Roomi
Roomi is a mobile-first roommate matching and room rental platform founded in 2013 that connects individual renters with available rooms and verified roommates across the US, Canada, Mexico, the UK, and Australia, monetizing through paid background checks and premium listing features.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Roomi does
Roomi, founded in 2013 and headquartered in New York, operates a mobile-first roommate matching and room rental platform that connects individual renters seeking rooms with room owners and prospective roommates across the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The product is delivered via iOS and Android apps and a responsive web interface, and centers on three functional surfaces: (1) searchable room rental listings with filters for price, location, amenities, gender preference, duration, and verification status; (2) a roommate search module that surfaces verified user profiles in target geographies; and (3) a paid "Verify My Roommate" service providing identity verification and background checks, framed as a trust and safety layer. As of 2020 the platform had processed more than 100,000 background checks.
The business operates a freemium, product-led model: room posting is free for individuals, while monetization comes from paid verification add-ons and optional premium listing features for visibility. Go-to-market relies on content marketing and SEO (city/neighborhood guides, co-living and apartment-hack blog content across US and Mexican Spanish-language markets) plus app store distribution, rather than a direct sales motion. Roomi has scaled primarily through venture funding — approximately $18M raised across rounds in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021, with lead investors including DCM Ventures, Great Oaks Venture Capital, and Atami Capital — and through five acquisitions (room.me, The Room Ring, Symbi, Study Abroad Apartments, and Dada Room) between 2016 and 2018 that consolidated competing roommate-matching platforms and extended the product into Mexico and student/temporary housing. The company is led by founder and CEO Ajay Yadav, with Alex Larsen as COO and Chumi Gonzalez as marketing manager.
Roomi firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Roomi
- Legal name
- Roomi Inc.
- Website
- https://roomiapp.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Roomi is a mobile-first roommate matching and room rental platform founded in 2013 that connects individual renters with available rooms and verified roommates across the US, Canada, Mexico, the UK, and Australia, monetizing through paid background checks and premium listing features.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Roomi industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Co-living and Roommate Matching Marketplace
- NAICS
- Accommodation (721), All Other Traveler Accommodation (721199)
- SIC
- Real Estate Agents & Managers (For Others) (6531)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Co-Living Private Rooms (Short-Term) (THAMABAI)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Shared Student Apartments & Roommate-Matching Platforms (EDAIALAD), Owner-Occupied Private Rooms (Homestays) (THAMABAA), Unhosted Private Rooms (Off-Site Host) (THAMABAC)
Keywords
Where Roomi is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Roomi business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Room Listings: Room owners can post room listings for free, with optional paid boosting features to increase visibility. The platform monetizes through premium placement and featured listings.
- Verification Services: Roomi offers paid verification and background check services (verify-my-roommate) as a value-added service to increase trust and safety in roommate matching.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free tier for room/roommate listings |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
Roomi product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Roomi is a free mobile and web marketplace that connects verified renters seeking rooms or roommates with room owners posting available rooms. The platform combines searchable room listings, roommate profile browsing, and paid identity/background-check verification services to facilitate trust-based co-living matches primarily in major North American cities and select international markets.
Product overview
Roomi is a roommate matching and room rental platform that operates as a unified product connecting renters seeking rooms with those seeking roommates. The platform consists of the core Roomi Platform for matching, Room Listings for posting/browsing rooms, Roommate Search for finding compatible roommates, and mobile apps for iOS and Android. Additional services include Verify My Roommate (background checks) and Safety Check features. The platform is available across North America with listings in major US cities, the UK, Canada, and Mexico.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Roomi Platform A free roommate matching and room rental marketplace that lets individual users post and browse rooms and search for compatible, verified roommates across North America and select international cities.
- Verify My Roommate Paid identity verification and background check service that allows users to screen potential roommates or tenants for trust and safety before committing to a shared housing arrangement.
- Roomi iOS App iOS mobile app providing on-the-go access to room listings, roommate search, verification, and safety features for individual renters and room owners.
- Roomi Android App Android mobile app providing on-the-go access to room listings, roommate search, verification, and safety features for individual renters and room owners.
Quantifiable outcome
- Processed over 100,000 background checks as of 2020
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Roomi
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Roomi technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Roomi partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor.
- HomelightminorRoomi partnered with Homelight on content marketing (Roomi x Homelight: how to turn your room into a part-time office), cross-promotional content collaboration.
- LuggageHerominorRoomi partnered with LuggageHero on content marketing (Roomi x LuggageHero: what to expect from your first post-ISO vacation), cross-promotional collaboration.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights2 records
Roomi competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- SpareRoom: SpareRoom is one of the largest roommate-matching platforms, with deep coverage in the US and UK. It directly competes with Roomi on room listings, roommate search, and verified profiles, and is frequently cited as a comparable on Roomi's own blog.
- Roomster: Roomster is a global roommate and room-rental marketplace operating across many of the same geographies as Roomi. Roomi's blog explicitly publishes 'Roomster alternative' content, indicating direct competitive overlap on listings and matching.
- PadMapper: PadMapper aggregates apartment and room listings with map-based search, serving a similar urban renter audience. Roomi targets PadMapper explicitly in 'alternative' SEO content, confirming direct competitive overlap.
- Apartment List: Apartment List is a large US apartment search and matching platform with comparable filters, location-based search, and renter profiles. It serves the same urban renter segment and competes for the same SEO keywords.
- HousingAnywhere: HousingAnywhere is a booking platform for student and young-professional housing across Europe, overlapping with Roomi's Study Abroad Apartments acquisition and Mexico/international expansion. Roomi has published 'HousingAnywhere alternative' content, indicating direct competition.
- Roommates.com: Roommates.com is a long-standing roommate-finding site in the US with profile-based matching. It targets the same primary persona as Roomi — young professionals and students seeking roommates in urban areas.
Broad incumbents
- Zillow: Zillow is the dominant US residential real estate search platform. While not a pure roommate marketplace, it captures upstream rental demand and has expanded into rental listings and connections, indirectly competing for the same users and landlords.
- Facebook Marketplace: Facebook Marketplace and Facebook housing groups are the most common free channel for room and roommate listings in the US. They represent the primary free substitute that caps Roomi's ability to monetize core matching.
- Craigslist: Craigslist remains a heavily used free channel for room and roommate listings, especially in dense US metros. It is the baseline free substitute against which Roomi's verification value proposition must justify any paid conversion.
Regional players
- Dada Room: Dada Room was a Mexico-focused roommate and room-rental platform acquired by Roomi in 2018. It remains relevant as a regional reference point for Roomi's Mexico expansion and Spanish-language market entry.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Roomi social profiles
Digital presenceRoomi financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Roomi leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Roomi funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds6 records
Investors16 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Roomi M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A5 records
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Roomi
What does Roomi do?
Roomi is a free mobile and web marketplace that connects verified renters seeking rooms or roommates with room owners posting available rooms. The platform combines searchable room listings, roommate profile browsing, and paid identity/background-check verification services to facilitate trust-based co-living matches primarily in major North American cities and select international markets.
Is Roomi a public or private company?
Roomi is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Roomi founded?
Roomi was founded in 2013. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Roomi based?
Roomi is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Roomi make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Room Listings are the primary driver. The others are verification Services.
Who are Roomi's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are SpareRoom, Roomster, PadMapper, Apartment List, HousingAnywhere and Roommates.com. Broad incumbents are Zillow, Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. Dada Room is listed as a regional player.
Does Roomi have an API?
No public API is recorded for Roomi.
What industry is Roomi in?
Roomi's product category is Co-living and Roommate Matching Marketplace. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAMABAI, Co-Living Private Rooms (Short-Term), with a secondary code of EDAIALAD, Shared Student Apartments & Roommate-Matching Platforms. Its NAICS code is 721 and its SIC code is 6531.