A new player has emerged on the nascent Russian online alternative accommodation market. Apartator.ru launched its test version in April and its first paid functions in late June. It has just been selected as one of the 10 finalists of the European Demo Night startup contest to be held next week in San Francisco.
Apartator positions itself in one of today’s hottest market segments, with leading venture funds – including Russian ones – generously fueling international giants like HomeAway and Airbnb.
Apartator distinguishes itself with a reverse auction system, with owners competing for clients. “In addition to offering users only available apartments, this system has owners answer their requests immediately,” said Apartator CEO Anton Malkov in an exchange with East-West Digital News.
Malkov is the founder and general manager of LikeHome, a leading serviced apartment management company operating in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
For the moment, the startup offers only apartment rentals, taking advantage of the 10,000 appartment database it inherited from LikeHome. But Malkov says other types of accommodations will be offered at a further stage.
Just 300 offers are available in the current beta version. The average deal amounts to 4,000 rubles, or $143, per day, with a duration of five days. The site receives a 12% commission on each deal.
Apartator will make its functions fully available this Fall and promises an English version for foreigners visiting Russia.
Apartator’s first competitor on the Russia market is Travelrent.com. Founded in 2009, the site looks to be a Russian language copycat of Airbnb. The site lists over 1,300 recent offers in Russia and 38 other countries.
Tvil.ru, another project launched last February, claims as many as 5,000 offers with photos in 130 Russian cities, including 3,500 mini hotels, 1,250 houses and 250 apartments. Though its design still needs to be polished, the site offers advanced mapping and social functions. It works on a CPL basis.
Two other sites, Gorkvartira.ru and Kvartirka.su, work on a more traditional online classifieds model.
US giants lag far behind these local startups. Airbnb, which offers a Russian version of its site, provides just 260 offers in Russia. HomeAway, which has no Russian version, has a mere eight vacation rentals – up from seven one month ago – in this huge country.
