RoomHunt

RoomHunt operated as an online platform designed to address the challenge of housing affordability in competitive rental markets. Founded in 2013 by Michael Silverman, David Weisburd, and Akshay Kumar, the San Francisco-based company developed a search engine for apartment rentals that uniquely integrated a roommate-finding function. This allowed prospective renters to team up and split the cost of larger, multi-bedroom apartments, thereby gaining access to more desirable properties that might otherwise be financially out of reach.

The platform functioned as an aggregator, pulling in rental listings and enabling users to find compatible roommates. A proprietary matching algorithm was utilized to connect potential roommates based on various data points, from demographics to shared interests like favorite sports teams. This approach targeted a key pain point in the rental process, streamlining both the property search and the search for housemates into a single experience. For property owners and existing tenants, the service offered a way to list empty rooms and find suitable occupants to fill vacancies.

The business model centered on providing this dual-function search service to renters. The company successfully raised $360,000 in funding to support its operations. After just over a year of activity, RoomHunt was acquired by RentLingo, an apartment review and listing site, in a deal that closed in December 2014. At the time of the acquisition, RentLingo's leadership noted the complementary nature of RoomHunt's service but did not have immediate plans to integrate the roommate-finding features into its own platform.

Keywords: roommate finder, apartment rental search, shared housing, rental affordability, proptech, rental listing aggregator, roommate matching, online rental platform, apartment search engine, find roommates, split rent, rental property listing, San Francisco startup, real estate technology, RentLingo