Startup Level: SplitStay desires to assist solo vacationers break up lodging

SplitStay

SplitStay desires to assist solo vacationers uncover and proportion lodging with others, providing a each inexpensive and clear answer.

Based this yr in Belgium, SplitStay offers vacationers the technique to publish an lodging and discover a roommate or browse open remains and sign up for some other traveler’s day trip.

What’s your 30-second pitch to traders?

SplitStay is a travel-tech market that is helping solo vacationers proportion lodging in a protected, clear and cost-effective manner. Assume “BlaBlaCar meets Reserving.com”—however as an alternative of simply reserving a mattress, we center of attention on developing value-based fits the place vacationers break up resort rooms, flats or villas. Via unlocking underutilized stock, we make journey extra inexpensive, available and community-driven whilst opening new income streams for occasion organizers.

Describe each the industry and era sides of your startup.

At the industry aspect, SplitStay solves the affordability hole in journey by way of enabling cost-sharing. It eliminates the friction of locating a appropriate roommate, making sure a more secure and extra social revel in.

At the era aspect, we’ve constructed an MVP with a Supabase backend and Replit-based entrance finish, providing consumer profiles, day trip postings and matching good judgment. Through the years, this evolves right into a smart-matching engine powered by way of personal tastes, agree with and protection filters and AI-driven suggestions, built-in into present occasion and reserving platforms.

Give us your SWOT research.

• Strengths: Sturdy founder-market are compatible, early validation (TravelMassive pitch reputation), transparent cost proposition for each B2C (affordability) and B2B (occasion/ticketing partnerships)
• Weaknesses: Early-stage product nonetheless in MVP section, restricted sources in comparison to main OTAs
• Alternatives: Emerging solo journey marketplace (projected 300M+ journeys by way of 2030), increasing event-driven lodging call for, partnerships with fairs, meetings and tourism forums
• Threats: Greater platforms (Reserving, Airbnb) may sooner or later reproduction the idea that; development agree with at scale calls for robust network and risk-mitigation options.

What are the journey ache issues you are attempting to relieve from each the buyer and the trade views?

• For vacationers: Top lodging prices when touring solo, loss of social connection and protection considerations round locating appropriate roommates
• For the trade (lodges, occasions, platforms): Underutilized twin-room stock, restricted inexpensive choices right through high-demand occasions and the ignored alternative so as to add cost to attendees by way of connecting them pre-trip

So that you’ve were given the product, now how are you going to get quite a lot of consumers?

Our go-to-market technique is event-driven. We spouse with fairs, meetings and occasion organizers who face lodging shortages and excessive resort charges. Via embedding SplitStay into ticketing flows or Stay22 maps, we faucet into an present, motivated target market. Moreover, we leverage virtual nomad communities, journey boards and social media to construct grassroots adoption. Phrase-of-mouth is amplified by way of the integrated social nature of our product.

Let us know what procedure you’ve long past thru to ascertain a real want on your corporate and the scale of the addressable marketplace.

We validated the idea that with a pilot on the TravelMassive convention in Da Nang, the place attendees effectively shared a villa thru SplitStay. We collected direct comments confirming willingness to make use of and pay for one of these answer. Business studies spotlight solo journey as one of the most fastest-growing segments globally, with an estimated $1 trillion annual marketplace by way of 2030. Even shooting a fragment thru room-sharing creates a considerable alternative.

How and when will you are making cash?

SplitStay earns income by the use of a commission-based fashion (e.g., €10 according to a success fit). Further income streams come with B2B partnerships with ticketing platforms, white-label integrations for occasion organizers and associate commissions by the use of reserving companions. Monetization starts at MVP degree and scales with partnerships.

What are the backgrounds and former achievements of the founding group?

I, Ruben Vanhees, am the founder. I’ve spent the decade bridging gross sales, industry building and travel-tech ecosystems throughout Europe and Asia. I carry revel in in partnerships, product launches and development cross-border communities. The technical aspect has been supported by way of meantime CTOs and freelance engineers, with plans to onboard a full-time technical co-founder. SplitStay has additionally been mentored by way of leaders from Airbnb, Sonder and TravelTech.vc, strengthening our trade credibility.

How have you ever addressed variety and inclusion inside what you are promoting?

SplitStay inherently promotes inclusivity by way of making journey extra inexpensive and available for solo vacationers from various backgrounds. Our platform emphasizes protection, transparency and selection, enabling vacationers to clear out personal tastes, construct agree with by the use of profiles and keep away from discriminatory practices commonplace in casual roommate-finding. Internally, we’re development an international, disbursed group with various views to replicate the vacationers we serve.

What’s been probably the most tough a part of founding the industry thus far?

Balancing velocity and agree with. Vacationers love the idea that of saving cash by way of sharing rooms, however additionally they want to really feel protected and assured within the fit. Development the appropriate agree with and protection layer (verification, personal tastes and menace scoring) whilst staying lean in early building has been the most important problem.

In most cases, journey startups face a reasonably tricky time making an affect—why are you going to be one of the most fortunate ones?

As a result of we’re fixing an actual, pressing downside with a contemporary way: excessive lodging prices for solo vacationers and loss of inexpensive choices round occasions. Our wedge is apparent, our timing is correct (solo journey and occasion tourism are booming) and the fashion advantages more than one stakeholders—vacationers, lodges and occasion organizers. The integrated virality of social matching makes us stand out in comparison to conventional reserving gear.

A yr from now, what state do you assume your startup can be in?

Inside a yr, we goal to:

• Run pilots with main occasions and ticketing platforms in Europe and the U.S.
• Increase the MVP to a mobile-first app for higher consumer revel in
• Achieve 1,000+ vacationers matched throughout meetings, fairs and nomad hubs
• Protected pre-seed investment to scale era and partnerships

What’s your endgame? (Going public, acquisition, increasing and staying non-public, and many others.)

Our imaginative and prescient is to make SplitStay the go-to platform for shared journey remains international. The most probably trail is scaling with strategic partnerships in occasions and reserving, then aligning with a significant OTA or ticketing participant for acquisition or integration. That stated, we’re curious about development a sustainable, community-driven corporate with robust unit economics and world achieve.

SplitStay

SplitStay desires to assist solo vacationers uncover and proportion lodging with others, providing a each inexpensive and clear answer.

Based this yr in Belgium, SplitStay offers vacationers the technique to publish an lodging and discover a roommate or browse open remains and sign up for some other traveler’s day trip.

What’s your 30-second pitch to traders?

SplitStay is a travel-tech market that is helping solo vacationers proportion lodging in a protected, clear and cost-effective manner. Assume “BlaBlaCar meets Reserving.com”—however as an alternative of simply reserving a mattress, we center of attention on developing value-based fits the place vacationers break up resort rooms, flats or villas. Via unlocking underutilized stock, we make journey extra inexpensive, available and community-driven whilst opening new income streams for occasion organizers.

Describe each the industry and era sides of your startup.

At the industry aspect, SplitStay solves the affordability hole in journey by way of enabling cost-sharing. It eliminates the friction of locating a appropriate roommate, making sure a more secure and extra social revel in.

At the era aspect, we’ve constructed an MVP with a Supabase backend and Replit-based entrance finish, providing consumer profiles, day trip postings and matching good judgment. Through the years, this evolves right into a smart-matching engine powered by way of personal tastes, agree with and protection filters and AI-driven suggestions, built-in into present occasion and reserving platforms.

Give us your SWOT research.

• Strengths: Sturdy founder-market are compatible, early validation (TravelMassive pitch reputation), transparent cost proposition for each B2C (affordability) and B2B (occasion/ticketing partnerships)
• Weaknesses: Early-stage product nonetheless in MVP section, restricted sources in comparison to main OTAs
• Alternatives: Emerging solo journey marketplace (projected 300M+ journeys by way of 2030), increasing event-driven lodging call for, partnerships with fairs, meetings and tourism forums
• Threats: Greater platforms (Reserving, Airbnb) may sooner or later reproduction the idea that; development agree with at scale calls for robust network and risk-mitigation options.

What are the journey ache issues you are attempting to relieve from each the buyer and the trade views?

• For vacationers: Top lodging prices when touring solo, loss of social connection and protection considerations round locating appropriate roommates
• For the trade (lodges, occasions, platforms): Underutilized twin-room stock, restricted inexpensive choices right through high-demand occasions and the ignored alternative so as to add cost to attendees by way of connecting them pre-trip

So that you’ve were given the product, now how are you going to get quite a lot of consumers?

Our go-to-market technique is event-driven. We spouse with fairs, meetings and occasion organizers who face lodging shortages and excessive resort charges. Via embedding SplitStay into ticketing flows or Stay22 maps, we faucet into an present, motivated target market. Moreover, we leverage virtual nomad communities, journey boards and social media to construct grassroots adoption. Phrase-of-mouth is amplified by way of the integrated social nature of our product.

Let us know what procedure you’ve long past thru to ascertain a real want on your corporate and the scale of the addressable marketplace.

We validated the idea that with a pilot on the TravelMassive convention in Da Nang, the place attendees effectively shared a villa thru SplitStay. We collected direct comments confirming willingness to make use of and pay for one of these answer. Business studies spotlight solo journey as one of the most fastest-growing segments globally, with an estimated $1 trillion annual marketplace by way of 2030. Even shooting a fragment thru room-sharing creates a considerable alternative.

How and when will you are making cash?

SplitStay earns income by the use of a commission-based fashion (e.g., €10 according to a success fit). Further income streams come with B2B partnerships with ticketing platforms, white-label integrations for occasion organizers and associate commissions by the use of reserving companions. Monetization starts at MVP degree and scales with partnerships.

What are the backgrounds and former achievements of the founding group?

I, Ruben Vanhees, am the founder. I’ve spent the decade bridging gross sales, industry building and travel-tech ecosystems throughout Europe and Asia. I carry revel in in partnerships, product launches and development cross-border communities. The technical aspect has been supported by way of meantime CTOs and freelance engineers, with plans to onboard a full-time technical co-founder. SplitStay has additionally been mentored by way of leaders from Airbnb, Sonder and TravelTech.vc, strengthening our trade credibility.

How have you ever addressed variety and inclusion inside what you are promoting?

SplitStay inherently promotes inclusivity by way of making journey extra inexpensive and available for solo vacationers from various backgrounds. Our platform emphasizes protection, transparency and selection, enabling vacationers to clear out personal tastes, construct agree with by the use of profiles and keep away from discriminatory practices commonplace in casual roommate-finding. Internally, we’re development an international, disbursed group with various views to replicate the vacationers we serve.

What’s been probably the most tough a part of founding the industry thus far?

Balancing velocity and agree with. Vacationers love the idea that of saving cash by way of sharing rooms, however additionally they want to really feel protected and assured within the fit. Development the appropriate agree with and protection layer (verification, personal tastes and menace scoring) whilst staying lean in early building has been the most important problem.

In most cases, journey startups face a reasonably tricky time making an affect—why are you going to be one of the most fortunate ones?

As a result of we’re fixing an actual, pressing downside with a contemporary way: excessive lodging prices for solo vacationers and loss of inexpensive choices round occasions. Our wedge is apparent, our timing is correct (solo journey and occasion tourism are booming) and the fashion advantages more than one stakeholders—vacationers, lodges and occasion organizers. The integrated virality of social matching makes us stand out in comparison to conventional reserving gear.

A yr from now, what state do you assume your startup can be in?

Inside a yr, we goal to:

• Run pilots with main occasions and ticketing platforms in Europe and the U.S.
• Increase the MVP to a mobile-first app for higher consumer revel in
• Achieve 1,000+ vacationers matched throughout meetings, fairs and nomad hubs
• Protected pre-seed investment to scale era and partnerships

What’s your endgame? (Going public, acquisition, increasing and staying non-public, and many others.)

Our imaginative and prescient is to make SplitStay the go-to platform for shared journey remains international. The most probably trail is scaling with strategic partnerships in occasions and reserving, then aligning with a significant OTA or ticketing participant for acquisition or integration. That stated, we’re curious about development a sustainable, community-driven corporate with robust unit economics and world achieve.