What happens when you take a red-hot Charlotte housing market, an innovative hospitality solution and a technology platform to bring it all together?
You get StartCharlotte’s 2018 Startup of the Year, Rabbu, awarded Jan. 22 at the Third Annual StartCharlotte LIVE! event.
Rabbu is a technology and operations company in the short-term rental market that provides guests with enhanced travel experiences and accommodations through its tech-enabled homes while providing property owners with higher returns on their investments.
This week, Rabbu announced the company had raised $1.5 million in funding from Agilis Equity Partners and a few other angel investors.
Rabbu founder & CEO Emir Dukic has financed Rabbu to this point and in the past year, Rabbu has tripled the amount of available properties and expanded from Charlotte into Savannah and as of December 2018, Atlanta.
“In 2019, we want to expand into two more markets and grow by 100 properties,” Dukic said. “Our tech platform is going live and we want our first technology customers onboarded this year.”
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Rabbu plans to launch and market a new SaaS platform which will utilize AIoT to enable other hosts, property investors and property managers to more efficiently manage their own properties.
While Rabbu seeks expansion into other markets, having Charlotte as a home base is invaluable.
“Charlotte’s startup community, even though it’s small, is very tight-knit,” Dukic said. “We all help each other and give back to each other by introductions to investors, partners and talent. Having a space to share problems is so helpful.”
How can one break into Charlotte’s startup community?
“Get out in the community and talk to me and others in this space,” Dukic said. “Ask us questions and be willing to provide feedback and find ways to contribute and help us out as well. Talk to us. Tell us what you’re doing.”
“It’s built into the culture now,” Dukic said. “If someone needs help, we do it.”
