Custom Made Software – Hapipod online matching platform

Customer Profile

Hapipod creates inspired homeshare unlocking a world of lifestyle benefits and affordable accommodation.  Unique in its approach, Hapipod.com is an innovative matching platform offering easy, automated access to a practical exchange of help for lower rent.  By using clever search terms, users are enabled to find like-minded homesharers with similar backgrounds, personality traits and interests.

The Challenge

18.6 million people in the UK have a spare room and since the pandemic, 3.7 million UK adults are classified as lonely.  Meanwhile, 3.4m 20-34 year olds cannot afford market rents and face a deepening housing crisis. Hapipod was initially conceived to help tackle these issues by matching independent older homeowners with spare rooms wanting a little more company or help, with younger lodgers wanting to offer that in return for substantially reduced rents. Since its launch, Hapipod’s reach has extended beyond its initial target audience with lodgers registering on the site ranging in age from 18-71.  In addition, Hapipod has seen homeowner needs for practical help ranging from families wanting childcare to lone homeowners wanting help with such things as IT or shopping.

Hapipod’s marketing focus has thus shifted from intergenerational homeshare to the innovative nature of the rental agreement – exchanging time or practical help for lower rents, which encompasses both intergenerational and same-age homeshares.

As a self-funded initiative by Hapipod founder Andrea Frankenthal, the main challenge in getting the project off the ground was to find an organisation that was happy to work collaboratively on it.

Starting from scratch with a blank canvas posed exciting development opportunities and tested boundaries when defining the scope.

The Approach

Greystone came highly recommended and after pitching the business idea to their directors, the  Hapipod concept was a hit and a commercial collaboration agreement was finalised.  Hapipod came with ideas on functionality and look and feel – something akin to a dating or Au Pair site – and the project scope was defined and user journey mapped.  A Minimun Viable Product (MVP) was outlined and development began.

“Greystone’s approach to the project was a breath of fresh air.  They embraced my ideas, were very adaptable, and offered much needed expertise when it came to user experience and functionality”.

Andrea Frankenthal, Hapipod Founder.

The Solution

Working in complete collaboration, Greystone displayed flexibility and willingness to bring the Hapipod concept to life.  Designed in-house at Greystone, the Hapipod platform is built in ASP.Net MVC with the Bootstrap 4 framework. Greystone integrated ID verification check by Yoti and Stripe as the payment system.  In addition a sophisticated and powerful in-built dashboard was developed allowing easy analysis of customer profiles, behaviours and value.