Start up Ideal Flatmate will find you a perfect match using an algorithm based on research by some Cambridge boffins
Start up Ideal Flatmate is to take on Gumtree and SpareRoom with a new flatsharing website that uses an algorithm to match flatmates on the grounds of personal compatibility.
Launched this week, it gives equal priority to the lifestyle and living habits of the people concerned as to the location or look of the property.
The founders started the website in the belief that it should be easier to find the right people to live with. They partnered with two experienced PhDs from Cambridge University to devise a simple 20 question survey and an algorithm to match users to their most compatible potential flatmates.
Their research found that the share of chores and tidiness can be big bugbears but that drug-taking and sexual orientation were well-tolerated.
"Both myself and Rob had lived in flatshares which did not work out after we left University as a result of people arguing with each other, falling out or generally not getting on. We both felt that there had to be a better way of matching up people to live with and thought it would be great if there was a quick way that people in London could find similar, compatible people,” co founder Tom Gatzen told CityAM.
The website, backed by government seed funding, is targeting London first before a potential wider rollout.
The site allows users to take a quick survey and then matches them up to their most compatible potential flatmates, allowing them to see and message the people they are most likely to get on with. This will save them time by not forcing them to trawl through dozens of applicants and interviews, and money and stress further down the line when a flatmate does not turn out to be the right fit.