Ottawa-Based Home Services Platform Launches New Offering for Airbnb Hosts

Ottawa, ON, Canada, May 27, 2014 --(PR.com)-- It just got a lot easier to be an Airbnb host in Ottawa.

Ottawa-based home services platform Mopify (http://mopify.com) is expanding its line of on-demand house cleaning services with a new offering aimed to alleviate a major pain-point for the growing number of Airbnb hosts across the city.

As of May 28, Airbnb hosts can use Mopify to help manage back-to-back bookings with a new cleaning and turnover service.

"We had quite a few Airbnb hosts get in touch with us about using our service to help them manage their guests," said Patrick Leclerc, Mopify co-founder and head of operations. "A lot of the time, they were renting-out their space while away on business or vacation and were missing out on revenue when they had back-to-back bookings they couldn't handle."

Airbnb is a wildly popular website that lets people rent their space to travellers in exchange for money. It's largely based on a peer review system. Generally, the better your reviews are as a host, the more rental offers you receive.

"The hosts that reached out to us were finding it too cumbersome to deal with traditional cleaning companies that didn't have all the elements of online management that we do," said Leclerc. "It’s really easy for them to manage our service from the road."

For $50, Mopify's Airbnb turnover service (http://mopify.com/airbnb) makes sure your space is clean for your new guest, the sheets and towels are changed and even provides a local attractions brochure (a touch that is proven to increase peer review scores). There's also an option for a key drop-off to guests if needed.

The company has been testing the service with a small group of Airbnb hosts and is ready to open it up to the greater community.

"This service just makes sense as the Airbnb community grows here in Ottawa and elsewhere," said Leclerc. "The tech-savvy Airbnb crowd is definitely our target audience for our core service and this will also help as we expand our reach into other Canadian cities shortly."

Along with the Airbnb turnover service, Mopify's core business is targeting the oft-overlooked $3.6 billion Canadian house cleaning industry.

Mopify charges consumers $25/hour for a professional house-cleaning. Customers book online and manage all scheduling and payments via Mopify's web app. Added touches like phone notifications when your cleanings start and finish round the service out.

Much like ride-sharing services Uber and Lyft, Mopify is part of an emerging category of apps that taps a flexible community of workers, connecting them with people willing to pay for their service. Mopify maids are professional cleaners who undergo police background checks and a screening process that includes reference checks, multiple interviews and training.

Leclerc says the service has seen steady growth since its launch in late 2013. It currently operates solely in Ottawa but they have plans to expand to other Canadian cities shortly.