The story of Roomlala

Roomlala was born from the idea of a young entrepreneur who wanted to help young people find housing more easily in big cities. Philippe Roualle experienced the long queues during apartment viewings, the disappointment of seeing tiny 10-square-metre units on the sixth floor with no elevator, and the exorbitant rents in major cities. When he hosted a family friend who came to Paris for a 2-month internship, he realized there must be many families whose children have left home, leaving behind empty rooms. An underutilized housing potential that could be a huge help to many students!

So, what is Roomlala?

In 2009, Philippe joined the growing sharing economy and launched Roomlala (then known as Chambrealouer.com): a platform for connecting hosts and tenants for homestay rentals. It is not a real estate agency, as it is individuals directly arranging the rental between themselves. It is very simple; everything happens online: the host posts a listing in which they describe their home and the room being made available. The tenant searches for available housing in their chosen city and gets in touch with hosts whose listings interest them. Everyone wins: in addition to the shared social moments, the host earns extra income and the tenant pays significantly lower rent than they would for a studio or apartment.

The site has already facilitated 3.2 million connections through its 42,000 listings for rooms for rent across about 40 countries. Today, Roomlala's strength lies in its community of over 1.8 million members. Everyone has joined in and is helping to fuel the rise of homestay rentals around the world!

Want to know more about Roomlala? Feel free to check out our press page by clicking here .
And if the startup adventure catches your eye, you might be interested in our careers page.