Alex
Hivenue is a community marketplace for people to list and book co-living spaces with like-minded roommates.
Our values:
- Live anywhere, with people from everywhere.
- Sharing is caring
- Simplify
Our mission is to gather people together, and celebrate diversity.To respect everyone’s differences and cultures.To open the world’s doors to our guests, and give them freedom to move anywhere, anytime.
Tell us about yourself?
Twelve years ago I’ve decided to move to Montreal for my studies. I was happy about it, until I realized that I’ll have difficulties to book a room from abroad.
So, I spent my time living from a hostel to another one. I spent 6 months without finding a stable place, cause I knew nobody, I had no efficient way to rent a place online, and I had no reference, from a job or a bank.
So this problem stayed in my mind for years.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
Execution is more important that the idea itself. If you wait to have the good idea to start a business, you’ll never start!
What problem does your business solve?
Being able to rent a mid-term monthly housing from abroad.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
My experience as a newcomer inspired me a lot. As I was struggling being trusted by landlords or other roommates. It is why I think it can be the ideal solution for international / exchange students or digital nomads trying to settle in a new city smoothly.
What is your magic sauce?
We have integrated a verification system to our solution, so we’re making sure that candidates are verified. They have to provide documents like an ID, proof of income, proof of study, and others depending of the length of their stay / and status. We also do a background check). We are also currently developing a matching platform, so roommates know with whom they can match with.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
We want to offer our services not only in Canada, but in USA as well. I think we can expand rapidly in cities like San Francisco or New York where rent prices are higher, and co-living is more common.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
Trying to fix a problem our users have faced, and to not deviate with solutions that doesn’t resolve anything. We always tend to propose cool things to our users, but at the end users decides!
How do people get involved/buy into your vision?
We want Human to start thinking as a community. Co-living encourages sustainable living through communal sharing. When everyone is sharing the same lighting, heating and cooling, and coffee pot, we use less, a lot less.
Also, co-living provides a practical solution to growing populations and overcrowded cities
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