Flat-Club Achieves Important Milestone Closing Series A Funding

About 18 months ago, Flat-Club was first launched in London with only 5 flats. The idea was simple – help alumni & students of top universities find others they trust to arrange short term accommodation. Since then, the word has spread quickly and we have more than 2,000 posted flats and rooms in over 20 cities. We started with a team of 2 and today we are already 15 from 11 countries (the most international startup in London, and maybe in the world?). More importantly, we have hundreds of excellent reviews from hosts and guests about the renting and networking experience. Today, we are happy to announce that we closed our Series A funding with excellent investors who will help us take Flat-Club to the next level and become even better.
This is outstanding news for all of us here in London, New York, Rome, and the Ukraine, where the team is based and also for our community.

In the next few months we plan to do the following:

1. Expand into more cities and networks - so you can find more great value options and make new contacts
2. Significantly improve our website and product. There is much work to be done and we can’t wait to start (contact us if you are in London or want to move to London and want to take part in this exciting journey)
3. Keep delivering outstanding customer service – much better than you would expect from a small online startup - and serve our community’s exact needs

Who are our investors?

• MLC50
• Prof. Eli Talmor (London Business School)
• Prof. Florin Vasvari (London Business School)

All of them have broad experience in building businesses that started out small, just like Flat-Club, and have now become world leading companies that serve as case studies in business schools. We have been working together in the last few months, and we can’t wait to share some of the early results with you.

How is Flat-Club different?

1. Targeted Posting: A host on Flat-Club can choose to post their place only to others they trust from their existing social networks (top university alumni & students, employees of top companies, or friends of friends on Facebook) instead of posting it to everyone.
2. Exclusive Flats: 70% of the flats and rooms on Flat-Club have never posted online before and belong to private hosts. Hence the value for money is much better compared to professional hosts and vacation rentals. A typical host on Flat-Club would rather have their place empty than rent it to someone they are not sure about.
3. Community: By focusing on alumni & students of top universities, Flat-Club leverages existing social networks instead of trying to build a new one (there are too many anyway), and hence benefits from the affiliation its users have with their university. For example, recently an alumnus of Imperial College asked to join Flat-Club to find exclusive accommodation in London for his wife & himself. Everything sounds normal except that he is 76 years old and his wife is 72. He graduated almost 50 years ago and still associates himself with his university!

Most importantly, we are different because of you. So thanks again for your ongoing support and feedback.

• Thanks,
• Nitzan Yudan
• Co-founder & CEO