37. Flat-Club

Founders: Nitzan Yudan and Tomer Kalish
Founded: June 2010 (launched November 2010)
Website: http://flat-club.com/ 

Students at top universities are often away from expensive accommodation for weeks at a time, but many experience difficulty finding trusted tenants to take their rooms on a short-term basis. By connecting students from top universities only with tenants from their existing social, academic and professional networks, Flat-Club, listed in the Startups 100 2012, aims to eliminate the risks involved when advertising on the open market, whilst also keeping user acquisition costs down for the company. And it looks like students are buying into the concept; research by UCL found that 20% of the site’s target demographic will use the Flat-Club service to rent out their apartment for short stays compared to just 10% on the open market. Since the site was launched with £30,000 of savings by Nitzan Yudan and Tomer Kalish in 2010, its focus has been on expanding its network and concluding partnerships with 50 top universities around the globe including UCL, London Business School and NYU. Over the next year Flat-Club plans to replicate its model in Europe, with imminent launches in Paris, Berlin, New York and Madrid.