85. Ideal Flatmate

Founders: Tom Gatzen and Robert Imonikhe
Founded: October 2015 (Launched December 2016)
Website: www.idealflatmate.co.uk

You move into a flat share and everything seems hunky dory, but then it all starts to fall apart a few months, or even weeks, down the line.

Annoying habits or behaviours start to emerge and the person you thought your flatmate was, or was pretending to be, vanishes to be replaced by a veritable monster…

Sound familiar? It’s an experience all renters will have gone through at some stage and one that Ideal Flatmate looks to solve.

Best friends, and former flatmates, Tom Gatzen and Robert Imonikhe had experienced their fair share of toxic flat shares.

They realised that, with generation rent booming, there was nothing on the market matching compatible living partners to make for a harmonious living environment.

In December 2016, the pair launched started Ideal Flatmate to plug this gap – and the business does just what it says on the tin.

Flat-hunters are asked 20 questions about their living habits to find a match. Future flatmates can then message each other within a group and browse for their home together.

The start-up operates on a freemium model, with landlords able to list their properties for free and other features accessed through a paywall. It also has a ‘Preemium Flathunter’ option.

The platform currently sees 100,000 active monthly users and 50,000 registered flat hunters, while more than 5,000 landlords and letting agents have already uploaded properties onto the site.

Thanks to a £500,000 seed funding round in July 2017, these users will soon be able to access a more streamlined messaging service as Ideal Flatmate continues to develop its platform and launches a specially created app.

Currently only available in London, plans are already afoot to take the platform UK-wide; after all it’s “who you live with that has the biggest impact on your happiness rather than simply where you live or how nice your house is”.