Hospi Housing: Custom Web App That Automates Student Housing Matching
Hospi Housing, a Dutch startup connecting international students with local hosts, partnered with Beetroot to automate its matching flow. The custom web app cut manual steps from 27 to 3 and reduced team effort from 6 hours to 1 hour per match.
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TECHNOLOGIES
- ReactJS
- Python
- AWS (Lambda, DynamoDB, SQS)
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TEAM COMPOSITION
- Project Manager
- Lead Developer / Architect
- Back-end Engineers (1–2)
- Front-end Engineers (2–3)
Background
Hospi Housing is a Netherlands-based tech startup tackling skyrocketing prices and housing shortages for international students and starters in the Dutch market.
Its platform connects owners of unused rooms with people looking for a place to stay, and helps users from different backgrounds share experiences rather than just rent a room.
Project Recap
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Hospi Housing’s website was mainly an online advertisement with heavy manual processing that limited its growth.
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After interviewing 10 companies in 3 countries, Hospi chose Beetroot to build a ReactJS and Python web app on a serverless AWS architecture.
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Manual steps in the matching flow dropped from 27 to 3, and team effort fell from 6 hours to 1 hour per match.
Challenge
Initially, Hospi Housing’s website was mainly an online advertisement, and matching students with hosts required a lot of manual processing. To grow, the startup needed to automate its operations while keeping running costs low.
Hospi Housing faced several challenges:
- A matching flow with 27 manual steps
- Around 6 hours of team effort for every match
- The need for a low-cost, scalable infrastructure
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Solution: Custom Web App on a Serverless AWS Architecture
Hospi Housing came with a detailed technical specification and front-end design. Beetroot engaged a team of seven, led by a project manager who was the client’s main point of contact.
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ReactJS and Python Web App
The team built the web app with a ReactJS front end and a full-fledged Python back end to automate the matching flow.
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Cost-Efficient Serverless Setup
A serverless AWS design with Lambda functions, DynamoDB, and SQS keeps the platform’s running costs as low as possible.
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Budget-Friendly Delivery Plan
The scope was split into four deliveries, with a detailed backlog of user stories created together with the client.
Everyone was very helpful, you could approach the developers directly and ask questions. Changing something throughout the process was never a problem. Especially in the aftercare, fixing the last bugs was very fast and they went above and beyond to ensure we were satisfied.
Results
The custom web app marked a critical leap in Hospi Housing’s growth journey and helps the company move faster toward its ambitious targets.
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“For us it was important that the company was not just building what we asked, but also challenged us in our ask and provide consulting along the way. Furthermore, the mission of Beetroot very much aligned with our own.”
– Maurits Barendregt, Founder & CTO of Hospi Housing
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From 27 to 3 manual steps
Automation removed most of the manual work from the matching flow.
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6x less effort per match
Team engagement per match dropped from 6 hours to just 1 hour.
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Deadlines met
Extra web developers joined for time-sensitive work to keep the project on schedule.
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Low running costs
The serverless AWS architecture keeps infrastructure costs down as the platform scales.
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“Communication mostly went via email or Slack, and Slack allowed us to talk directly to the developers which was very useful, especially at the end of the project.”
– Maurits Barendregt, Founder & CTO of Hospi Housing
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