ShelterApp

What ShelterApp does

ShelterApp, Inc. (formerly Strappd) is an all-volunteer U.S. non-profit organization founded in 2019 that operates a cross-platform mobile and web application connecting homeless and low-income individuals to social services. The platform provides curated listings of shelters, food assistance, crisis lines, and support resources across 13 U.S. counties plus statewide Colorado and nationwide youth resources, with concentrated coverage in Los Angeles, King (Seattle), Multnomah (Portland), San Francisco, Santa Clara, Alameda, San Diego, Sacramento, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ramsey (St. Paul), and El Paso counties. Core product features include an AI-powered chatbot for conversational service discovery, dual List and Map view interfaces, real-time shelter bed availability tracking, national crisis hotline directory, and direct user-to-service-provider communication. Volunteer-administered content review ensures data quality before publication, and a self-service registration portal enables service providers to list and manage their own offerings.

The underlying technology stack is a cross-platform mobile and web application available on Web, Google Play Store, and Apple App Store, with provenance from the original Strappd application (preserved in the Google Play package name org.strappd). The platform has accumulated 467,000+ total downloads (355,000+ Google Play, 91,000+ web, 21,000+ Apple). The AI chatbot operates on text modality and appears to use conversational NLP to interpret user needs and route them to appropriate resources; no proprietary models or research publications are disclosed.

ShelterApp's business model is donation-dependent: the app is entirely free to end users with no subscription, in-app purchase, or usage fees, and the organization is funded through charitable donations via PayPal (paypal.com/fundraiser/charity/3945196). The go-to-market motion is product-led growth — organic downloads through app stores, word-of-mouth from social workers and shelters, and earned media coverage from regional outlets. A core partnership with DemocracyLab supports volunteer recruitment, which is essential to the all-volunteer operating model. The company has no disclosed funding rounds, no paid staff, no enterprise customers, and no management team disclosed in the source data.

Name

ShelterApp

Legal name

Shelter App, Inc.

Website

https://shelterapp.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ShelterApp is an all-volunteer U.S. non-profit operating a free cross-platform mobile and web app that connects homeless and low-income individuals to shelters, food assistance, crisis lines, and social services across 13 U.S. counties, statewide Colorado, and nationwide youth resources.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Homeless and Social Services Directory

NAICS

Community Housing Services (62422), Community Food and Housing, and Emergency and Other Relief Services (6242)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Homelessness Prevention, Shelter & Supportive Housing Services (BPAIANAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Housing Assistance & Homeless Services (BPAGAEAB)

Keywords

• Homeless services directory
• Shelter finder app
• Social services platform
• Nonprofit resource app
• Community resource mapping

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations: Shelter App, Inc. operates as an all-volunteer non-profit organization funded primarily through charitable donations. The website references a PayPal donation link (paypal.com/fundraiser/charity/3945196) for public contributions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Shelter App is a free cross-platform mobile and web application (formerly Strappd) that connects homeless and low-income individuals and families to nearby social services such as emergency shelters, food assistance, youth drop-in centers, crisis hotlines, and advocacy groups. The app provides an AI-powered chatbot, List View and Map View navigation, filterable search, real-time shelter bed availability, and direct user-to-provider connectivity, with all service-provider submissions reviewed by volunteers before publication. Coverage spans 13+ U.S. counties (Los Angeles, King/Seattle, Multnomah/Portland, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, San Francisco, Santa Clara/San Jose, Alameda/Oakland, San Diego, Sacramento, Ramsey/St. Paul, El Paso), statewide Colorado, and nationwide youth resources.

Product overview

ShelterApp is a single unified mobile and web application platform provided by Shelter App, Inc., an all-volunteer non-profit organization. The core Shelter App product offers List View and Map View interfaces for discovering services, an AI-powered chatbot for conversational service discovery, filter-based search, crisis hotline listings, and direct connectivity to service providers. Service providers can also use the app to manage and update their service listings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Shelter App (formerly Strappd) A free cross-platform (Web, iOS, Android) mobile and web application that connects homeless and low-income individuals and families to nearby social services such as emergency shelters, food assistance, youth drop-in centers, crisis hotlines, and advocacy groups. Features include List View and Map View navigation, filter-based search, an AI-powered chatbot for service matching, real-time shelter bed-availability updates, and direct user-to-provider communication, with volunteer-reviewed service-provider submissions. Coverage spans 13+ U.S. counties, statewide Colorado, and nationwide youth resources.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature6 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights10 records

Direct peers

• findhelp (formerly Aunt Bertha): The leading U.S. social services search and referral platform, connecting users to free or reduced-cost programs including housing, food, and crisis support. Directly competes with ShelterApp in helping low-income and at-risk individuals locate community resources, but at vastly greater scale with paid staff and B2B contracts.
• Homeless Shelter Directory: A nationwide online directory of homeless shelters and transitional housing programs across the U.S. Directly comparable in listing shelter resources for individuals experiencing homelessness, though it lacks ShelterApp's mobile-first UX and AI chatbot.
• ShelterList: An online directory of homeless shelters and supportive housing resources searchable by location. Comparable shelter-listing service, though ShelterApp differentiates with cross-platform mobile apps and real-time bed availability.
• One Degree: A nonprofit social services platform that helps low-income families find and access verified community resources such as food, housing, and healthcare. Closely comparable nonprofit model with self-service provider onboarding and curated resource data.
• Healthify: A social needs platform that connects patients with community resources (housing, food, transportation) and is widely deployed through healthcare partners. Comparable in helping vulnerable populations access social services, though Healthify's go-to-market is anchored in B2B healthcare contracts.

Broad incumbents

• 211 (United Way): The national 24/7 free and confidential hotline and online service directory operated by United Way that connects people to local resources for housing, food, and crisis support. The established incumbent in this space; ShelterApp explicitly addresses user complaints about 211's phone-based navigation complexity.
• NowPow (a Unite Us company): A social care platform (now part of Unite Us) that connects people to verified community resources and tracks outcomes across healthcare and social service networks. Comparable resource-matching functionality but operates as a paid B2B platform with deeper clinical integration.
• HUD Resource Locator: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's official directory of housing-related resources and assistance programs. An authoritative incumbent in the housing-resource space with federal backing, against which ShelterApp competes on UX and real-time data.
• Google Maps (Community Resource features): General-purpose mapping platform increasingly surfacing community resources including shelters and food banks. Represents the indirect competitive threat of a well-capitalized incumbent with massive distribution that could erode ShelterApp's discovery advantage.

Emerging players

• Health Leads: A nonprofit working to address social determinants of health by connecting patients to resources for housing, food, and other basic needs. Comparable mission overlap with ShelterApp's resource-navigation focus, though Health Leads operates primarily through clinical partnerships.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=hiAto19bRQI?version=3&vq=hd1080
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/shelterapp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ShelterApp