SPAREasia (SPARE), led by a team of fresh Cambodian graduates, launched a website aimed at solving short-term space rental demands in the country, as part of the startup’s growth strategy.
Co-Founder Soeun Tharith unveiled the platform at a ceremony with mentors who guided the tech company from its inception to this major leap into the real world.
The idea is not unique, but it is a valuable one as it simplifies the search for office and event space, which can be a challenging exercise.
Present at the event were: Jonathan Yap from Smart Axiata (Cambodia), Melanie Mossard from Impact Hub Phnom Penh and Matt Viner, one of the many mentors who has journeyed with the team from SPARE.
SPARE is the first platform of its kind in Cambodia and encourages a sharing economy and impresses with its ease of use.
This digital platform allows users to host or book the vetted spaces within a few clicks. SPARE guarantees the quality of the spaces on offer. It does its own check of the spaces before approving them for posting on its platform.
“Now users can search from their phones to book, review and host short-term venues, event spaces, indoor and outdoor spaces in an economical and efficient way,” Mr Tharith said.
He said the company already has 100 spaces available on its platform, and can’t wait to serve the needs of the users.
For Tharith and his fellow university friends Virakbuth Seng, Narundet Srong and Panharith Leang, the SmartStart: Young Innovator Program was a real booster for this incredible journey.
The SmartStart experience allowed them to learn from industry leaders along with various forms of mentorship that helped them shape their business model along the way.
“SmartStart came at a very good time as it allowed us to build on our idea and bring it to the next level. Thanks to Smart, Impact Hub and the program partners for playing an instrumental role in making our start-up journey happen. By going through all the stages: from “Inspire” to “Enable” and finally to “Grow”, we were able to adjust, validate, and test our business model and product.”
Aimed at helping university students nurture their own tech ideas, SmartStart has helped young developers such as SPARE reap benefits through the leading mobile operator’s funding, support and mentorship for young entrepreneurs together with the expertise of Impact Hub.
Interested parties can go onto the platform via www.spareasia.com and view the wide array of listings, choose what spaces they want based on their needs and send a request to the owner immediately upon making their decision to book the space.
Though targeted initially for spaces in Phnom Penh, SPARE also shared that they are exploring further expansions into other provinces in Cambodia soon.