A Qatari tech startup officially launched on Saturday a new website that connects real estate brokers to customers, with a focus on residential rental properties available across Qatar.
Abdulla al-Fadhala, CEO of ‘hapondo’, said the platform “will redefine the way people in Qatar search for a new home to rent.” The platform already has more than 1,500 listings, and aims to provide the best user experience possible and to improve the quality of listings of real estate in Qatar, he continued.
“Hapondo was born to fill the gap we saw in the market. It’s 2020 and people are fed up with looking at low quality photos or poor descriptions of properties. We want to help connect tenants looking for a new home with brokers who have quality offerings,” al-Fadhala said.
Al-Fadhala and his partners, Haajerah Khan, Abdulaziz al-Yazeedi, and Ahmad al-Khanji, co-founded the company after realising the difficult and frustrating process of finding a new home in Qatar.
After studying the market, the team realised that “not only was the real estate marketplace operating at low quality levels, but also some of the leading companies operating in the sector were based in the UAE.”
Al-Yazeedi, who is hapondo’s chief sales officer, said the team believes in the importance of creating a product that was for the Qatari market by those who understand it.
“Our goal for this platform is to provide a good user experience, which is why we have been focusing on the speed of our site. The broker’s portal was designed to simplify the content uploading process, with a particular focus on the quality of content.
“Also, we have phased our approach of product development in a way that allows us to collect feedback from our clients and users, so we can create a product that is truly for them,” al-Yazeedi said.
With the launch of the platform, the hapondo team said it is proud to be part of Qatar’s tech SME ecosystem, helping contribute towards the country’s economic development. hapondo is part of Qatar Science and Technology Park’s (QSTP) Incubation Centre, which has given the company access to resources that have helped accelerate its development in the past months.
Al-Yazeedi said, “With a very strong goal in mind, and the proper support, hapondo seeks to make a lasting impact in the real estate scene in Qatar. We want hapondo to help elevate the overall quality level of online marketplaces in general in the country. It’s simple. Tenants should be able to find what they are looking for, and brokers should be able to readily display their quality properties. With our unique algorithm and interface, hapondo will make that happen.”
“The platform is officially live and can be visited at https://hapondo.qa/. To list properties on hapondo, contact [email protected],” al-Yazeedi added.
