HouseStars

Idea

Introduction

UK's property maintenance sector: broken, outdated, and riddled with friction.

In today's digital world, where nearly everything can be accomplished through the phone, we believe the property sector for homeowners, landlords, tenants and tradespeople often feel stuck in the past.

❌ Homeowners seek convenience: They desire an easier way to handle property maintenance, repairs, and finding reliable service professionals without the stress.

❌ Landlords grapple with complexities: Arranging property repairs, ensuring compliance, and managing tenants become time-consuming challenges with a lack of transparency.

❌ Tradespeople have to buy leads from not fit-for-purpose builders' websites with no guarantee of business, cold call customers and time-consuming quotations.

With our experienced team, we believe we are poised to achieve great milestones in the industry.

Avijeet brings extensive experience from senior roles in Barclays and HSBC, driving digital innovation across mortgages, corporate banking, and asset finance.
Aparna also has extensive experience managing project operations.

Both founders, are experienced property investors in HMO, BTL, and SAs, add valuable real-world insights to HouseStars.
✅ HouseStars is the Solution:

The uber-easy, AI-powered app, revolutionising property repairs by democratising access to tradespeople for fast, reliable services at a fair price. Experience the potential future of property maintenance in the UK.

Substantial accomplishments to date

🌟 Average rating of 4.5 stars on Trustpilot ✅

📈 49% Average revenue MoM growth between Jan and July 2023 ✅

🏠 2000+ Homeowners and landlords pre-registered on the App ✅

🔧 1100+ Trade businesses registered on the HouseStars platform ✅

🚀 Selected by key startup incubators including Virgin Step Up and Barclays Eagle Lab ✅

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AUG '21| Market research for business idea completed

DEC '21 | Founders invest £25K into Beta App Development

MAR '22 | SEIS and EIS Advanced Assurance received from HMRC.

MAR '22 | App goes live on Google Play and Apple store

APR '22 | App launched in Maidenhead, Berkshire

AUG '22 | Service area extended to key areas within Berkshire

APR '23 | Angel Investment of £114,500 raised via SEIS

MAY '23 | HouseStars moves to Clyde House as HQ in Maidenhead

JULY '23 | New App packed with features and 24/7 urgent repair services launched

AUG '23 | Service coverage extended to Reading, Hays, Ealing, High Wycombe, Slough and several key areas within Bucks, Berkshire. Aiming launch towards Greater London areas (subject to current fundraise)

Monetisation strategy

We have established several different revenue-generating sources.

We maintain a reasonable 15% commission on all bookings. This not only ensures competitiveness in pricing, but also guarantees exceptional customer service and efficient management.

In London, call-out charges often soar to £100-£150. In contrast, we only charge a £10 upfront booking fee for urgent same-day repairs, and our fixed subscription fee offers unlimited priority bookings, presenting a cost-effective alternative to conventional, pricier solutions.

The property maintenance sector is currently valued at $7.5 billion. As housing demand increases, this valuation is projected to surge to $13.5 billion by 2026 (The UK property services market is projected to grow at 8.8% CAGR – 2019 – 2026).

Our focus is both B2C and B2B customers, including homeowners, landlords, tenants, letting agents and social housing associations. .

Use of proceeds

HouseStars has successfully raised £114,500 and is now seeking a minimum of £250,000 in this funding round. We've identified 8.5 Million properties across 35 key target locations and plan to expand into London and other major metropolitan areas.

The funds will primarily drive our sales and marketing efforts. Our product development roadmap includes enhancing accessibility for people with special needs and leveraging voice AI for seamless services. Additionally, we're deeply researching smart intelligence for creating legal contracts to protect customers and service providers.

While we continue to focus on growing the B2C market with homeowners and landlords, we believe our extensive property knowledge will allow us to extend capabilities to the B2B sector. We aim to assist social housing associations and commercial properties, reducing costs, wastage, and significantly lowering energy consumption. Join us as we transform the property maintenance landscape with HouseStars.

A portion of the investment reflected in this campaign (£84000) was received by the Company in August 2023 and the Company has started putting this to use.