Considering the sharing economy's reputation for disruption, the process of coordinating schedules with a host to get keys for a rental apartment feels needlessly anachronistic. Why can’t you just unlock the place with your phone?
VirtualKEY, a Chicago-based startup and member of the 1871 WiSTEM women in technology incubator, is working with smart lock manufacturers to make those awkward key exchanges a thing of the past.
“The whole idea behind VirtualKEY is to make smart locks smarter,” said co-founder and CMO Resha Shroff. “We do everything to provide access for the guest and for cleaners, and we will give [the owner] notifications when somebody accesses the home, checks in or checks out.”
VirtualKEY integrates with smart locks from a number of popular brands to generate temporary access codes for short term renters, allowing them to unlock the door with their mobile devices for the duration of the stay. As soon as the reservation expires, the temporary code is automatically deactivated.
One advantage of the digital key concept, said Shroff, is that a digital key won’t be lost or stolen and is impossible for the guest to duplicate.
But VirtualKEY’s biggest selling point is convenience, she said. Late-arriving guests and inevitable travel snafus often leave property managers working long, unpredictable hours. And having to be present for a physical key exchange precludes would-be Airbnb hosts from being able to rent their apartments out while out of town in the first place.
Last year, Shroff submitted a concept to the University of Chicago Booth School of Business New Venture Challenge, where she received a lot of positive feedback despite not having a working prototype yet. Fueled by that feedback, she soon got to working on an MVP. The company officially launched in September this year.
Technologically speaking, Shroff said, the most challenging part of building out VirtualKEY’s product was the sheer variety of different smart lock systems. Some locks open via Wi-Fi while others are opened with Bluetooth or a keypad. Moreover, every lock manufacturer has its own API. To overcome that challenge, VirtualKEY’s technology team built a highly modular system to allow for maximum code reusability.
Although there are a number of startups that seek to address the key exchange problem, Shroff said hers is the only one to go the all-digital route.
“We do have companies that do key exchange for vacation homes, but they would either actually meet your guest in person to give them your key and charge $45 per key, or leave your key in a café or deli nearby,” she said. “There’s no one out there right now who’s connecting multiple smart locks to multiple booking sites and automating the entire key exchange.”
After bringing on a full-time CTO experienced in developing secure mobile applications, Shroff has shifted her efforts to focus on fundraising, marketing to prospective customers and hiring. VirtualKEY is currently looking for developers, testers and salespeople.
Images via VirtualKEY.
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