Flat-Club brings business innovation back to the home of the MBA

Dec. 28, 2011 - PRLog -- Following phenomenal first-year success in the U.K., Flat-Club, the innovative short-term renting site aimed at MBA graduates and business professionals, today announces its launch into the U.S.  Yaniv Kalish has recently joined Flat-Club as a new partner at with the aim of facilitating and supporting the U.S. launch and growth.

Nitzan Yudan, founder of Flat-Club said, “Having seen 40% growth month on month in the U.K., it is the right time for Flat-Club to be expanding into new markets.  Already we are seeing a number of requests and listings on the site for flats in the U.S., and we hope to consolidate this by launching the new U.S. arm to our business. I have waited until now to ensure we have the right people to support this growth, and having completed a finance round and expanded the team, I am confident that this is the right time to launch in the U.S. market.”

Flat-Club aims to help people save money when they travel, as well as earn extra by letting their available properties over short periods of time. The website grew quickly from 5 to 2,000 flats in more than 20 cities – mainly through word of mouth. This success is due to Flat-Club’s focus on utilising the business school networks by offering members a service which allows them to rent their properties out to people they find trustworthy and reliable. Trust is an important part of the MBA community, which makes expanding to the U.S. the natural next step for the company.

Flat-Club will continue to focus on alumni and students of top business schools, and is planning to partner with the top 10 business schools in the US as part of their launch.
Yaniv Kalish said, “I am thrilled to be working with Flat-Club in this new and exciting time.  The U.S. market is larger than that of the U.K., particularly in terms of the number of business schools, and we hope to capitalise on this. Flat-Club is a one stop shop for top business school networks members looking for short-term accommodation. We simply can't afford not to be in the U.S. market. Our customers are smart and sophisticated, and they don't have the time to trawl through a number of websites. They need a place they trust to provide them with excellent value accommodation solutions.”
Yaniv will be in charge of the U.S. launch and growth and will be based in New York.


About Flat-Club:
Flat-Club is an exclusive community for short-term renting within social networks (primarily between friends and members of professional and academic clubs). Launched in 2010, Flat-Club grew quickly from 5 to 2,000 flats in more than 20 cities – mainly through word of mouth.
Flat-Club’s key differentiator from competitors is that it allows users to offer their flats only to those people from within their existing professional and business school networks, and not to everyone who visits the website.  By leveraging existing professional and business school networks, Flat-Club helps hosts make extra income on their properties, and allows guests to save up to 80% on the cost of hotel prices, whilst enjoying the added value of more space, kitchen facilities, and the ability to travel like a local.
Building Flat-Club around the dynamics of trust has meant that more people than ever are posting their flats online, 70% of the flats on Flat-Club have never been posted on the internet before. As a result, the company has been able to create a new market where private hosts are able to post their properties to selected members of their social networks in a win-win situation for all involved.
Flat-Club is a proud member of the London Business School prestigious incubator program and the Columbia Business School GreenHouse Program.

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Flat-Club is an exclusive network for short term renting in social networks. Flat-Club is creating trust between real people, by helping them find the people they trust from their existing social networks. Hosts can generate extra income, and guests can save up to 80% from the price of a small hotel room. The website was launched in November 2010 in London, and quickly expanded internationally by word of mouth. Most importantly, the feedback from guests and hosts is excellent and the most common question we get is – when will you expand to more cities?