PapayaPods opens testing phase in Barcelona and London

A few months ago, Startupticker.ch reported the launch of PapayaPods web based application for the rental housing industry, a project led by two EHL (Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne) alumni: Alex Just and Jakub Riziky.

The newly launched PapayaPods is today positioned as an Airbnb style platform aimed at simplifying management tasks (reservations, repairs, complaint handling, digital move-in/out, contract signing, etc.) for property owners in the mid-term (3 – 12+ months) rental housing space.

Since its first release a lot of work has been accomplished. The platform moved into Beta in middle of April and has had since then over 250 rooms listed on its site, across 7 Swiss cities such as Geneva, Zurich or Lausanne. Moreover, the startup has recently opened a testing phase in Barcelona and London, with strong first adoption. For Alex Just, PapayaPods CEO, these two European cities are both very interesting testbeds in terms of landlord profiles, volumes and innovation used in the rental housing industry.

PapayaPods.com is a web-based application that allows landlords and tenants to manage the entire rental process - from listing the apartment or room, organising visits, choosing the right tenant, to the booking and move-in, as well as the stay and the eventual move-out. There is no need to re-list their property once the tenant has moved out. The platform allows users to re-activate their vacancy either manually or automatically depending on one’s personal preference. 

The next months will be very active for PapayaPods. The company has been selected as a Swiss Startup to the Web Summit 2016 Alpha track with an opportunity to pitch in Lisbon in November. The PapayaPods has also been selected as a Startup to the Wolves Summit 2016 in Warsaw, where it will be pitching in a bid to win the $100’000.- prize. Last but not least, the young company has been invited by the Office Fédéral du Logement (OFL) for their annual Journées du logement 2016 to give a presentation on the topic « Bourses, plateformes et réseaux sociaux: quelles conséquences pour le logement? »