In this episode of Startup Spotlight, we have the pleasure of speaking with Nicolas Chevalier, the CEO of Zenhome, a tech startup that offers a collaborative platform for managing and monitoring renovation or construction projects. Through their two dedicated apps, "Brickeo Pro" and "Brickeo", Zenhome provides a valuable tool for individuals and professionals alike, including developers, real estate agencies, condominium trustees, craftsmen, and architects. Join us as we learn more about Zenhome and its innovative approach to streamlining construction and renovation work.
Startup Name: Zenhome
Industry: PropTech
Location: Paris, France
Date founded: 2021
Number of employees: 8
Vonage API used: Video
Zenhome offers a collaborative platform allowing individuals to monitor their construction site / home remodeling projects remotely and in real time!
More than 56% of French households carried out construction work / remodeling in 2021 and this number should be more than 70% in 2022 !
50% of households doing home remodeling are not satisfied because of :
- one or several defects appear after the end of the project,
- difficulties in creating a relationship of trust between all stakeholders,
- Impossibility of organizing a day-to-day monitoring and obtaining regular visual feedback on what has been done.
We have developed a solution which addresses both professionals and individuals through a collaborative platform approach.
The Brickeo platform developed is based on numerous iterations from the market, in order to offer an ergonomic approach based on ease of use.
100% bootstrapped right now!
The biggest challenge we faced has been to define and develop a cost effective innovative service on mobile apps mixing several technologies together (cloud, webRTC, blockchain…).
Our platform called “Brickeo” is based on 2 apps that communicate with each other in real time:
Brickeo app is dedicated to individuals,
Brickeo pro app is dedicated to professionals such as promoters, real estate agencies, insurance companies, banks, craftsmen and architects…
In order to succeed in this collaborative approach, we have had to adopt an agile methodology through a process of planning, execution, and evaluation before being able to simultaneously launch the main features of both apps embedded into the Brickeo platform.
The biggest mistake Zenhome has made so far is to underestimate the power of social networks when information is published.
While Neuilly city (Paris area), where we are based, recently published an article in a newspaper about the official launch of Zenhome as well as a post on Linkedin, we have suddenly been overwhelmed with loads of feedback in several days from potential professional customers willing to know more about our service offer.
It took us several days to manage this unexpected situation in an organized way and the multiplier effect that this post had generated without us being able to anticipate it.
We will try to avoid repeating this kind of experience in the future, which can quickly become very difficult to manage.
None of them.
Our answer will be Steve Jobs because he had a real disruptive vision to define, create, develop and market a product fully dedicated to the end users
We have been using Vonage through their Video API in order to enhance the customer experience on the remodeling and construction markets.
This specific market approach allows both our customers, professionals and individuals, to be able to contact each other from anywhere and have live interactive video sessions about the work in progress!
The biggest progress is that we are increasing our customer base daily. This allows us to learn more about the market, prospects and customers but also refine our business model while we are preparing new innovative features for 2023.
As we are launching commercially our next step is to develop our customer base further and keep on innovating through the addition of new great features for both professional and individual clients.
In 3 years we want to be the equivalent of "the Doctolib platform" allowing individuals to monitor their construction site / home remodeling projects remotely and in real time not only in France but also in several European countries.
At Vonage for Startups, we help early-stage startups better understand Communications APIs' power and enable them to utilise these tools better. We provide the necessary educational resources and a supportive environment for the startup community to benefit from Communications APIs, whatever their individual needs are.
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