Roomii is an online marketplace that lets you lease out your furniture to people who don’t want to own it. Our platform lets you earn a return on your furniture investment while helping people furnish their space short-term with quality pre-owned furniture.
Roomii’s story began in the spring of 2020. It was the morning of March 25th. I jumped on the usual Metra train ride from Hickory Creek to LaSalle Street Station to head to my co-working space. You see, I worked out of 1871. 1871 is a non-profit digital startup incubator located in the Merchandise Mart, Chicago, Illinois. This was my remote office—a place to work, meet other founders, and work on my company, Citispoon. Yep, Citispoon. Citispoon was a dining app that showed you real-time wait times of restaurants uploaded by restaurant patrons. I mention this because during the statewide lockdown, we pivoted to a restaurant marketing platform, offering discounted deals from your local restaurant. Visit Citispoon.com or download the app from the App Store or Google Play!
Back to my Roomii story. Illinois was under a statewide lockdown with only essential businesses open. Back home, I needed to set up an office that would inspire me. So I searched online for an Aeron Chair, a Barcelona chair, a height-adjustable table, and a frameless back-painted glass whiteboard. I bet you’re asking what some of these furniture pieces are, right? Well, my background is in the commercial furniture industry, with over 20 years as a product development engineer, developing furniture for companies like Teknion, Allsteel, and Knoll. So, I had an idea of what type of furniture I was looking for to bring the “wow” factor to my home office.
After a couple of clicks here and there, I quickly realized that the space of my dreams was cost-prohibitive. The only option I had was to buy retail store-grade furniture. Nothing wrong with this, but as a product development engineer, I was quite aware of the level of testing put into commercial furniture and was looking for furniture for the long term, not fast furniture. This led to the idea of Roomii. What if I could lease the furniture I needed, when I needed it, from people who own it? What if I could change the feel and look of my space as often as I want at an affordable price? What if I could create a curated space from an endless inventory of furniture from other people’s styles? What if!
Well, the idea of Roomii has grown since that fateful March day. For furniture owners, we now provide convenience, flexibility, and an extra source of passive income on their unused assets, and for renters, we give them access to a curated inventory, zero ownership without buyer’s remorse.
2021 has been a year to learn and launch. 2022 will be the year we grow. Be on the lookout for our popup stores around the city! Visit Roomii.co to lease out your furniture and furnish your space.
