Startup Day: Welkeys reveals itself!

To mark Welkeys' anniversary month and Startup Day on March 11th, we sat down with Chloé, the founder of your Airbnb concierge service. Read on to learn more about the creation of Welkeys and what the future holds for our startup.

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Could you introduce Welkeys in a few lines?

Welkeys is a 2.0 management and concierge company dedicated to short- and medium-term vacation rentals. Welkeys also means 20 employees at our Paris headquarters and over 30 partners in 30 French destinations—with even more to come in the years ahead, as we will be present in Switzerland, Belgium, and Spain starting in summer 2022.

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What was the process of creating this startup? How has it evolved?

In 2015, we were at the dawn of Airbnb. The market wasn't mature at all. People were starting to rent out their apartments but didn't know how to handle the logistics, especially guest check-ins and cleaning between stays. There were very few options, or just cleaning services without check-in support. It was also the explosion of peer-to-peer platforms. That’s where the idea for this startup came from: connecting property owners with verified concierges who would handle the logistics (check-in, check-out, cleaning, and linen management) for them, and later, additional services. This was our "WELKEYS A LA CARTE" offer.

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By 2017 (two years later), we realized that while this model had allowed us to expand quickly across France (we had concierges everywhere), the margins were very thin—we were taking 20% on an average basket of €60, so we needed massive volume. Our owners were also asking for a more integrated, turnkey solution that would allow them to delegate everything.

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So, in January 2017, we expanded our offer to include a turnkey management service: WELKEYS PREMIUM. We take a 20% commission to manage everything from A to Z (this is the offer we have today). This model works well, and we double our portfolio of managed properties every year.

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We decided to phase out the "à la carte" offer to focus on Welkeys Premium. We accelerated our deployment in France using a partner City Manager model. They manage local portfolios of apartments that, in some regions, can reach several hundred properties.

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Since late 2019, we have been moving upmarket with the properties managed by our startup. We are currently continuing this by targeting more and more secondary residence destinations (seaside, mountains) and rental investors looking for high profitability. Our commission has also evolved to adapt to the Covid crisis and our new standards, rising to nearly 25% including tax in some regions.

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How has Welkeys adapted to the current crisis? What are your plans for the future?

The big bets we have made and are continuing to make for the years to come!

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1. The bet on international growth: We are developing a turnkey model for our City Manager partners, who are true entrepreneurs. Thanks to these partners, we double the portfolio entrusted to them for operational management every year. Our goal is international expansion in neighboring countries: Belgium, Switzerland, and Spain from 2021 to 2024. Eventually, we aim for more ambitious international development, targeting the US market starting in 2025. The bet on digital: We are an agile, pure-player concierge company. We have developed a medium-term rental offer—the "mobility lease"—which perfectly meets current needs for remote work and corporate travel. For our owners, it combines perfectly with short-term rentals (off-season). The bet on social responsibility: With our "Let’s go green" program, we are raising awareness among our stakeholders about environmental issues and the impact of our business. We are committed to the well-being of our employees through a flexible and sustainable work organization. The bet on employment: We had 15 City Manager partners in 2019; today we have 30. Despite the crisis, we have continued our development. We have implemented a training program for our employees, helping them upskill in areas like accounting and digital marketing.
   
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We are relying more and more on our regional partners. Knowledge and tech are transferred to them for better local business management.

We have a prudent growth strategy with the near-term goal of achieving profitability.

Tempted by the vacation rental adventure? Want to work with a dynamic, fast-growing startup? Our sales team is here to help.