Rent Rabbit is changing the Australian rental market

It’s no secret the rental market is a mess, but Brisbane startup Rent Rabbit is already fixing things up. And with their EOI campaign, you can get in on the ground floor and clean up too.

This proptech startup founded by brothers James and Ben Pretty has been called “a kind of TripAdvisor for renters”, such is the impact they’ve had on Australia’s frustrated rental market.

Rent Rabbit allows renters to leave anonymous reviews of their rental experience – the good, bad and the downright dodgy. Fellow renters can then pay to access these reviews before they commit to renting.

It’s like moving into a place that your trusty mate has lived in before… or not, depending on how well they reckon the landlord treated them.

Power to the renter

This ability to share reviews on rental properties gives renters back some power. Before Rent Rabbit launched last year, renters only had the hyped-up listing and a five-minute inspection to help them decide whether to sign a rental contract. Considering the average rental contract is worth around $26k, it’s easy to see why a platform that brings information and, critically, transparency to the rental process has found a market so quickly.

More than 20,000 renters are already using the service, which has listed more than two million properties to date. The honest reviews users submit are key to Rent Rabbit’s value and the company uses fraud detection and verification software to ensure that only verified reviews are published.

Power to the investor

With such an obviously appealing prop, this crowdfunded platform is an exciting investment opportunity. Little wonder Rent Rabbit’s current EOI campaign on the Birchal platform received around 200 expressions of interest in 24 hours – and counting.

It’s not just that Rent Rabbit solves an obvious market problem, there’s also a solid business plan behind the idea. The innovative platform makes money in four key ways:

1. Only property ratings are free. There’s a set fee to see the full review, part of which is shared with the original reviewer.
2. A monthly subscription model to unlock premium features like TenantVault (where users can store their rental records) and Suburb Insights.
3. Advertising revenue from the website.
4. Affiliation and referral revenue from property agents and owners.

Image: Rent Rabbit

As a result, Rent Rabbit is growing like, well, rabbits. They have recently launched subscription products for renters and are targeting an expansion of their ‘renter deals’ partnerships offerings.

Rent Rabbit’s ambition is backed-up by their growing media presence, reaching 1.4 million social media views in 30 days.

The size of the Total Addressable Market (TAM) is represented by the 2.97 million Australian rental households and eight million Australian renters and Rent Rabbit estimates their nascent market will reach $400m by 2026.

Register your interest

Rent Rabbit is seeking investor expressions of interest now. If you want to own a piece of the company the media are calling a “game-changer“, hop to it. You can register your interest at Birchal’s EOI page and watch their webinar this Thursday, August 18, at 12.30pm EST (which will be available to view on catch-up).

Always consider the general CSF risk warning and offer document before investing.

This article is brought to you by Startup Daily in partnership with Rent Rabbit.

Feature image: Supplied.