Unfazed by homestay giants, a new app wants to help you find longer-term Muslim roommates
Two young Americans have launched a new app designed to help people find Muslim roommates, at a time when industry players are uncertain of the appeal of halal homestays in the shadow of a global giant like Airbnb.
MuslimBunk officially launched December 1 last year after two months of “extensive” testing, 22-year-old co-founder Umair Hafez told Salaam Gateway.
The final-year computer science undergraduate at the University of Texas at Arlington started MuslimBunk with 24-year-old co-founder Uzair Kaleem, a recent mechanical engineering graduate who now works for United Airlines.
The app came about from a real need they saw around them, they said.
“We saw that the only way Muslim students who preferred to room with other Muslims found rooms by reaching out to their friends network, and whenever they didn't know who to ask, they would post on multiple Muslim Facebook groups within that city,” said Umair.
“So instead of having these individuals post in multiple different Facebook groups (which are already littered with spam bots), we decided to devise a solution to this by creating a platform that ultimately connects all parties involved (room seekers and room providers).”
MuslimBunk targets single Muslim professionals, university students and people looking for Muslim tenants in their homes.
Umair says non-Muslims, too, can use the app if they’re looking for Muslim roommates or tenants.
“Yes, non-Muslims can list properties on MuslimBunk, we don't enforce any action to judge the "Islamic level" of each individual,” he said.
Ultimately, he said, it’s up to the parties involved to talk and decide if they are the right fit for each other.
Umair said the app currently has about 25-30 listings and around 500 signed-up users.
Its strongest presence is in the U.S. and UK, with most popular cities being Houston, Dallas, London, and Cardiff.
“Our goal is to have at least 1,000 users by summer (June) insha'Allah and at least 100-150 room listings,” said Umair.
MuslimBunk currently generates revenue through Google Ads.
“However we're more focused towards long term, in the future once our goal for number of users and listings is met insha'Allah, we'd look to implement a few different methods that we've already thought through and discussed,” said Umair.
The start-up is considering different options of revenue models, including paid app, in-app purchases, subscriptions, and taking a percentage of the down payment or monthly rent listers opt to receive through the app.
Umair is not fazed by the news that Muzbnb, the “halal Airbnb” that started in 2017, recently put itself up for sale, although founder Hadi Shakuur declined to tell Salaam Gateway why.
Umair said it’s tough to sustain and generate “tons of revenue” by only focusing on the Muslim population when there are the likes of Airbnb and similar home sharing platforms in the market.
“However, while Airbnb is more focused on short-term stays, we're aiming more to provide long-term solutions to Muslims to solve a major problem that we've personally experienced and one that we see everyone else experiencing daily,” he said.
The co-founders are buoyed by what they say has been “tremendous” feedback they’ve received at Islamic conventions they’ve participated in.
“[I]nsha'Allah we're happy and confident to go with the flow, use social media to our advantage, and grow MuslimBunk day by day.
“Also, we have a great team of mentors that are providing guidance along the way as well via The Startup Council, a [Washington-based] entrepreneurship network for Muslims.”
For now, Umair and Uzair manually review every listing and user that creates a profile on MuslimBunk but the co-founders plan to automate in order to detect listings and users that raise a red flag, saying that bot accounts are “a huge problem” on current roommate solutions.
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