{"id":44894,"date":"2023-10-20T15:39:23","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/sydney-startup-homecamp-shuts-down-after-running-out-of-time-and-money-for-its-airbnb-for-camping-platform-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:39:23","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:39:23","slug":"sydney-startup-homecamp-shuts-down-after-running-out-of-time-and-money-for-its-airbnb-for-camping-platform-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/sydney-startup-homecamp-shuts-down-after-running-out-of-time-and-money-for-its-airbnb-for-camping-platform-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Sydney startup Homecamp shuts down after \u201crunning out of time and money\u201d for its Airbnb for camping platform – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

A Sydney startup pitching itself as the \u201cAirbnb of camping\u201d has shut down nearly two years after launching.<\/p>\n

Homecamp launched in January 2015 offering a two-sided platform<\/a> connecting owners of private land in Australia with campers and travellers.<\/p>\n

Using the same model as Airbnb, these campers could then pitch up a tent or park a caravan on private property after paying a fee to the owner, with Homecamp taking a 20% cut.<\/p>\n

Homecamp co-founder David Abitbol announced the startup would be shutting down immediately in an email to users on Monday evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter having tested the concept in Australia we took the hard decision to shut down Homecamp as our revenue doesn\u2019t cover our costs yet,\u201d Abitbol says in the email.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the last four months we\u2019ve desperately tried to find solutions to keep the business alive. We have now run out of time and money to keep operating business as usual.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abitbol founded the startup after travelling around Australia for a year with co-founder Audrey Krukoff.<\/p>\n

Homecamp received $50,000 in seed funding from a range of French investors along with a $40,000 investment as part of Perth accelerator program Vocus Upstart.<\/p>\n

The startup continually raised the ire of local lawmakers with its platform, a common problem faced by many disruptive startups like Uber and Airbnb.<\/p>\n

In the email, Abitbol attributes some of the startup\u2019s demise to its battles with local councils, which threatened to fine landowners that use the platform.<\/p>\n

\u201cCouncil regulations discourage lots of potential hosts to list their place,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cInvestors hate businesses that are not fully compliant with the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

The email also says that competitors like Airbnb offer a more appealing proposition for the landowners.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe realised that potential new hosts would rather take the option to build a granny flat or something like a chalet and rent it on Airbnb than welcoming campers on their lands,\u201d Abitbol says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt some point it\u2019s legal and it provides a better return on investment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The startup also struggled with insurance issues and was unable to find a product to cover its offering.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat point also strongly prevents people from listing their place,\u201d the email reads.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want their property to be fully covered which is completely understandable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abitbol sais Homecamp also struggled to find the right balance for its fees, with a need to offering a rate cheaper than camp grounds but one that is beneficial for landowners and that can support running the business.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has become difficult to bring significant revenue to our hosts as well as for Homecamp to be profitable,\u201d Abitbol says.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwenty percent of a tiny transaction is not enough money to pay Homecamp operations such as the website, the wages, office space and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abitbol concludes the email by referencing his overall aims with the shut-down startup.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe launched Homecamp out of passion for on-demand travel technology, great camping experiences and even greater services,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe launched Homecamp out of a genuine belief that we could make your camping journey better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em> Facebook,<\/em> Twitter, LinkedIn.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Sydney startup pitching itself as the \u201cAirbnb of camping\u201d has shut down nearly two years after launching. Homecamp launched<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59029,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,20,21,18,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44894"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}