Just about anything you own nowadays can be rented online for an extra bit of income – your home or office being no exception. But if you’re uncomfortable hosting your private space for an extended period of time, Splacer will let you rent to event planners on an hourly basis.
Based in Tel Aviv and founded by former architects, Splacer bills itself as the Airbnb for event planning. The team personally curates the spaces that are available on its service – vetting each listing application carefully before approving them.
Currently, the service operates in Tel Aviv and New York City, and offers a combination of private and commercial spaces. Splacer co-founder Lihi Gerstner says the goal is to help people discover places they may never otherwise know exist for their event or creative uses.
“We have many movie producers and fashion photographers use the service to find shooting locations,” she tells TNW. “But it could also be used to host a book launch or networking event.”
On Splacer, you search by event type and group size to find the spaces that are suitable for your needs. You can also use the site to schedule a free viewing appointment, and if the booking proceeds, it can offer additional referral for services like catering, DJ and decorations.
Splacer takes 15 percent of each transaction, and says it encourages hosts and renters to use its platform for secure communication and payment. It also hopes the ratings system helps both parties identify the best customers and spaces to suit their needs.
Of course, when it comes to renting out private spaces, it’s hard not to bring up Airbnb’s own struggles. The service is often under fire for apartment listings that haven’t been approved by the landlords, renters trashing the place, or inappropriate activities taking place at the listing.
For what it’s worth, Splacer enforces a host agreement to ensure that the owner actually has the rights to rent their space.
“At this time, insurance is something we’re definitely working on,” Gerstner says. As far as misconduct at the space, she says Splacer is aimed at startup professionals and creatives looking for beautiful spaces to host events and network. At its current stage, it doesn’t anticipate the ‘wrong crowd.’
“We’ve seen apartments rented for parties where we return to find all the dishes washed,” she says, emphasizing that Splacer fosters a shared local community and plans to keep it that way.
So let’s all agree to continue having nice things, everyone.
➤ Splacer
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.