With Austin’s rapid population growth straining the supply of available housing, demand is growing for safe and effective tools for finding a roommate.
Yesterday, Austin got a new alternative to Craigslist with the launch of Roomi, a sleek mobile app for browsing apartment listings and finding compatible roommates. The New York-based service has expanded aggressively since closing a $2 million seed round last June, starting with a San Francisco launch in October and Los Angeles in January.
With consumers’ faith in Craigslist waning after a string of scams and violent crimes, safety- and personality-driven roommate finding apps such as Roomi, YoRoomie and Austin-based
are seizing the opportunity to fill the gap.
When LeaseBuddies launched in November, founder and CEO Jeremy Shreve said in an interview his app and others like it serve a growing need that’s becoming a fact of life for city residents between the ages of 18 and 30.
“There are between 50 and 70 new posts daily on Craigslist for people seeking a roommate,” he said. “As rent increases in major cities across the country, co-renting becomes less of an option and more of a necessity — just ask people in the Bay area.”
A new study by researchers at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering found that Craigslist fails to identify more than half of the rental listing scams on its sites. Fraudulent postings remaining on the site often last for up to 20 hours before being removed, luring victims into paying up-front fees and giving up personal information for bogus credit checks.
“Compatibility for things like noise tolerance and openness to pets — things that may seem small but can easily turn into sources of conflict or even dealbreakers — makes all the difference,” founder and CEO Ajay Yadav said in a statement.
Roomi users can post rooms, connect with potential roommates through in-app chat and even get access to discounts. When they sign up, new members fill out several fields to determine compatibility, like pet allergies, drinking habits, likes and dislikes.
“Roomi is a step into the future,” said Osuke Honda, General Partner at DCM Ventures. “Roomi’s social graph and housing details make it possible to have more transparency and security about a potential living situation."
Roomi is available for iOS and Android.
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