Vrumi

Idea

Introduction

Vrumi is Airbnb for workspace.

Vrumi is a Sharing Economy online property marketplace connecting workers and professionals needing space with householders who have rooms available in the daytime.

Vrumi solves the problem for self-employed, freelancers, micro-workers and other professionals to find spaces to work in, in areas they couldn’t previously afford, and may not need full time.

For householders, Vrumi provides an additional source of income from rooms in their homes sitting idle during the day, such as sitting rooms and dining areas.

Vrumi’s website allows householders to upload rooms available for rent, with photos, prices and availability. Professionals looking for a space to work search for their requirements, and then communicate and reserve directly with the host over the Vrumi messaging, reservation and payments system.

Vrumi provides coaching, host and guest ID verification, and all the peer-to-peer services and promotion needed for a healthy community in the Sharing Economy.

Intended impact

We believe that Vrumi is a totally new concept which leverages the momentum of the growing sharing economy, which PWC expect to rise in value from £9bn now to £230bn 10 years. We are creating a new market, where residential rooms are daily 'recycled' into workspace.

Vrumi generates extra income for households:

Most households have rooms sitting idle during the day. These rooms can generate income - for example a sitting room rented during the day just once a week for £40 a day will generate over £2,000 a year and three times a week £6,000.

Our launch in January has proved that householders are open to renting out day rooms, and then having their home to themselves at the end of the day.

Vrumi provides new flexible and affordable workspace:

Finding affordable workspace is a problem for many people and professions, from writers to tutors to singing teachers to micro-enterprises to therapists and start-ups.

Vrumi provides daytime space in private homes for everyone who doesn't want a fixed-term 'office', and may currently work from home, a library or coffee shop, or communal workspace.

Vrumi solves an existing problem for workers, and creates a new market for working.

* Vrumi helps householders pay mortgages, rent, and bills by enabling them to generate extra income

* Vrumi helps start‐ups and self employed get a leg up and grow their business with affordable rooms and flexible booking

* Vrumi partners with professional associations and other groups to find their members workspace

* Vrumi expands the sharing economy through recycling of rooms during the daytime

* Vrumi helps build civic cohesion by encouraging sharing, trust and reciprocity between neighbours and communities

We expect Vrumi over time to revolutionise how many people work.

Substantial accomplishments to date

Exceptionally strong management team:

The two Founders have over sixty years of entrepreneurial business experience in media, publishing and finance, and recruited experienced digital talent to the team; Sophie Neary as Founding Director, Ian Johnson as COO and Ben Dunham as CTO.

Fast-growing website:

- a fully working and live website Vrumi.com with full functionality, launched in January 2015
- over 200 properties listed, growing at over 10% per week
- over 600 registered users, growing at over 13% per week
- completing regular bookings, many with repeat users

Financing:

Vrumi's Founders committed £88,000 of Founder money, and raised £150,000 from high quality professional and private investors.

High profile publicity:

- Vrumi has attracted high profile coverage in The Times, The Independent, Evening Standard, Harper's Bazaar, High50, Enterprise Nation and Spectator Money.
- Member of SEUK (Sharing Economy UK) alongside Airbnb and ZipCar.

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-ad...
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/columnist...
http://www.spectator.co.uk/spectator-money/spec...
http://www.high50.com/startup/entrepreneur-inte...
http://www.harpersbazaar.co.uk/people-parties/b...
https://www.enterprisenation.com/blog/posts/mee...

Monetisation strategy

Vrumi is a marketplace website, which charges commission to Host and Guest.

We charge 5.5% of the headline rent to the host, and 9.5% to the guest.

Our revenue derives directly from the value of bookings made, so a function of number of rooms, how frequently booked, and average price, times our commission rate.

We expect most bookings to be repeat Guests, often in the same location, which will feed through to high Life Time Value for both guests and hosts. Of the bookings in January and February, over 60% were repeat Guests.

We expect to go nationwide in the UK in 2015, and then replicate the platform in overseas operations in capital cities, with an opener and small sales team in each geography.

We will also explore what other services we can provide to hosts and guests.

Use of proceeds

We intend to drive the following objectives:

- Scale fast in London – drive growth of Hosts, Guests and reservations through increased marketing and sales activities
- Develop key partnerships in London and the UK with guest organisations
- Expand across the UK
- Explore overseas expansion
- Continue website functionality and user experience development, with a ratings system next on the development runway

A simple budget split:

65% - human costs, in-house and out-house
22% - customer acquisition costs
13% - computing services, premises, misc

Our major direct customer acquisition cost is advertising, photography, and incentives.