Hemen Kiralık

What did it do?

Hemen Kiralık (hemenkiralik.com, Turkish for “available to rent now”) was a platform connecting people who wanted to let their home or office by the night, by the day or for short stays with tenants. It charged hosts no commission, earning instead 10 per cent of the rent, and served users in English, German, Russian and Arabic as well as Turkish. It also targeted foreign tourists visiting Turkey.

Why did it shut down?

The company gave no public reason for the closure. According to Webrazzi, the platform officially closed in early 2020 after taking its listings down for a while, and its domain was redirected to Hotels.com, owned by Expedia, the parent company of its investor HomeAway. The start-up had tried to be a home-grown alternative in a market pioneered by Airbnb and also home to global players such as Rocket Internet's Wimdu. Taking investment in 2015 from HomeAway, which could have been seen as a rival, signalled a shift from independent growth towards a strategic partnership. The fact that, after the closure, the domain was pointed to another brand owned by its main investor can be read as a sign that this partnership was not enough to keep the start-up alive.

The story

In January 2012 Webrazzi, the Turkish tech news site, announced the new project of Remi Onur, one of the partners in Peak Games, the Istanbul-based mobile games company: Hemenkiralik.com, a short-term flat rental site. Founded by Remi Onur, Mehmet Ülkü and Alper Kaya, the start-up also counted Rina Onur among its partners. Adapting to Turkey the model led globally by Airbnb, the site set out with 50,000 TL in capital. In its first two months it gathered more than 500 listings from 23 Turkish provinces; there were more than 100 rentals in the first month and nearly 250 in the second.

Investors came quickly too. 212 Capital Partners made two rounds of investment in 2012; Teruhide Sato of Japan's Netprice and Fahri Diner of Sigma Partners also joined the second round. In June 2013 a further $2.5 million came in from Hasan Aslanoba and 212, taking total investment to $3.5 million. Publishing in English, German, Russian and Arabic as well, the site targeted tourists visiting Turkey.

The market, however, was getting crowded. According to a 2014 round-up by Webrazzi, Wimdu, Rocket Internet's Airbnb clone, was also trying to grab a slice of the same pie as Hemenkiralik.com in Turkey. In 2015 Hemen Kiralık announced that it had received a significant investment from HomeAway, the holiday rental platform owned by Expedia.

This strategic partnership did not bring the expected leap. In February 2020 Webrazzi wrote that Hemen Kiralık, which had been taking down the listings on its platform for some time, had officially closed after an eight-year journey. According to the information reported, employees received their severance pay without any problems. The Hemenkiralik.com address, meanwhile, redirected to Hotels.com, another brand owned by HomeAway's parent company, Expedia.

Hemen Kiralık was one of the early examples of the sharing economy in Turkey. A fast start, strong investors and a multilingual product were not enough to stay independent in a market home to global giants.

Lessons for founders

• In a market where a global player is being copied, if you do not clearly define your local advantage, the bigger player wins the capital race.
• A strategic investor opens doors, but also sets your priorities; discuss your exit scenario from the start.
• Tourist traffic is seasonal; growth cannot be sustained without a user base that generates demand all year round.

Sources

1. Short-term flat rental start-up Hemen Kiralık has closed (Webrazzi, 2020-02-27)
2. Second-Round Investment in Hemenkiralik.com from 212 Capital Partners (sosyalmedya.co, 2012-08-16)
3. The 15 most-funded start-ups in Turkey (egirişim, 2014-08-20)
4. HemenKiralik.com: a short-term flat rental site from a Peak Games partner (Webrazzi, 2012-01-18)
5. Rocket Internet's 4 start-ups active in the Turkish market (Webrazzi, 2014-08-11)

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