“I’m glad to join the FoundHER Spring ‘24 cohort. As an alum, it’s invigorating to be back on campus and hear from all these young women about their entrepreneurial ventures. I wish I would have started this path when I was in college!”
Melissa Andrews, Class of 2017 (MA)
About the FoundHER(s)
HostHelpr originally started as a different company, which was exclusively dedicated to connecting hosts to local artists and getting the traveling guests to become patrons of the arts while they travel to new communities. Today, HostHelpr continues to support that goal but casts a much larger net in the vacation rental market. Still, it is part of our origin story that in trying to grow the art-focused company, I realized how fragmented our market was and how challenging it was to make real headway, even when we were marketing a free service for hosts! I had been a host for a long time, and I certainly knew how hard it was to connect to a larger network from that side of the equation, but it took my trying to launch a business from the service provider perspective to truly understand how much our industry was suffering because of the fragmentation on the operations front.
About the Company
HostHelpr is a purpose-first, B2B service marketplace for AirBnB hosts. We connect hosts to every kind of service provider they might need on their entrepreneurial journey while fostering a positive transformation in the vacation rental industry.
We launched our pilot at the end of 2022 with a focus on helping hosts in the Austin market, and have since expanded to Tampa and Philadelphia, with five other markets coming on in early 2024. Our vast, and growing, network of vetted professionals and supportive resources help hosts throughout their entrepreneurial journey. While large-scale property managers can access all resources on HostHelpr, the platform was designed for the little guys, especially those who are new to hosting or struggling to keep up in the increasingly stressed market.
Practically speaking, hosts who come to HostHelpr use digital tools that resemble the functionality of Groupon, Yelp, Indeed, and Zillow. The big distinction is that our tools are all focused on the unique needs of hosts – who are often shocked to find out their “passive income project” has now made them the general manager of a micro-hotel and a potentially contentious neighbor. Naturally, stressed-out hosts can use HostHelpr to find specialized services like cleaners, property managers, and social media marketing experts, but the secret sauce of HostHelpr is that hosts are also exposed to services that they probably never considered, like local artists, special financing to combat gentrification, energy saving technology, and Autism spectrum interior design consulting, amongst many others.
HostHelpr
Website
Industry
Vacation Rental
Mission
Our mission is to mindfully support hosts on their entrepreneurial journey.
Our vision is that by doing that
- the vacation rental industry will remain decentralized but not destabilized,
- that innovation will evolve from grassroots networks that will carry the industry from its current adolescence into maturity,
- that home shaing will be viewed as the most eco-friendly form of hospitality,
- that hosts will be considered community ambassadors,
- that the indusrty will be seen as a force of social equity and economic mobility.
Year Founded
2022
Learn More on Our Blog
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