Ideal Flatmate, a UK-based startup, can help Londoners out in a no-roommate crisis.The startup is using the principles of dating-style personality matchmaking to enable strangersto zero in on acompatible house mate. Its functioning is mind-blowingly simple: users take an on-site survey,responding to a series of statementswith ascaled response (from strongly agree to strongly disagree), on the basis of which they are then matched with potentially compatible flatmates.

There are some startups in the US that work on the algorithmic roommate matching model, such as college student-focused platformroomsurf, but Ideal Flatmates claim to fame is that it is the first to market in the UK, catering to any and all members of the public. For now, its operations are limited to London, although nationwide expansion is currently charted out for later in the year.

Soft launching its website last October, it is officially launching now, already boasting 3,000 registered users at this nascentstage, 1,000 listed properties, and a total of around 30,000 unique visitors so far. Development has beenfunded by thefounders and a few unnamed private investors. Co-founder Tom Gatzen said:

Were looking to run a further round of funding later in the year. Given that more than half of the 20-39 age group is projected to be renting privately by 2025, the market is growing significantly.

Speaking about their demographic, Gatzen said:

There have been a mix of flathunters using the site and landlords uploading their properties.The highest proportion of users are in the 20-35 bracket but there are also a significant number of 40+ flathunters, indicative of the growing number of this age range living in shared rental accommodation as a result of societal changes.

The sites matchmaking survey has got its users covered, questioning them on potential areas of in-house disharmonies, such as socializinghabits and attitudes to cleanliness. Its also going much deeper and treading the waters of personality, quizzing users to identify how extroverted or introverted they are, and generate matches accordingly. The survey has been developed with the help of two psychologists from the University of Cambridge. Gatzen continued:

We ran market research on over 500 flatsharers asking them 100 questions which we felt were the most relevant in working out whether you are compatible flatmates.After running a factor analysis with our Cambridge professors and testing the answers we received, the 20 questions we have were found to be the most important.

Although it is a bit early in the game for the company to produce hard data regarding the effectiveness of its scheme, Gatzen claimsanecdotal feedback so far looks positive with userssaying theyfeel theyre getting matched with like-minded people, adding:

A key part of our progression will be around fine-tuning and testing the matching to ensure people are getting paired up with suitable flatmates.

Their business model works such that its free to browse Ideal Flatmate casually, but the ability to contact potential flatmates requires users to subscribe to the platform. Pricing starts at4.99 for a weeks access, for which they get deliveredmatches with the most compatible potential flatmates and properties for their criteria (location, budget, and personality). It also allows themaccess to the on-site messaging feature to enable matchedusers/groups of users to chat to see whether they want to meet in person totalk abouta possible flatshare.

A second strand of the monetizing strategy is poised to launch soon, withGatzen saying they willstart charging landlords and letting agents a fee to advertise on the site this spring.

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Ideal Flatmate promises to stamp out all roommate worries - The Tech Portal