Munich Startup: What does your startup do in community? What problem do you solve?
InCommunity: With InGemeinschaft we create affordable housing by bringing people closer together.
The housing shortage in German cities is greater than ever. At the same time, the per capita living space has been rising for years. Affordable housing, in particular, is becoming increasingly scarce. While older people often live in above-average amounts of space and have unused rooms in their apartments and houses.
We help seniors sublet individual rooms through a full-service package. The barrier to entry is lower than ever. We take care of everything that comes with subletting, from finding roommates to furnishing, contracts, insurance and mediation. This not only creates more affordable housing, but also makes better use of existing space. Furthermore, living together promotes intergenerational exchange and reduces loneliness. Seniors have additional income, and students have an affordable room in a shared apartment.
Munich Startup: But that's been around for a long time!
InCommunity: Yes, and it's been very successful in other countries. In Germany, there's currently only a similar concept called "Living for Assistance," where students live with senior citizens at very low or no cost in exchange for taking on household chores like shopping or doing laundry.
Both founders are familiar with multi-generational shared living arrangements
Munich Startup: What is your founding story?
InCommunity: Darius (23) and Philipp (39) met by chance on LinkedIn. We then met and realized that we had been working on the same idea for roughly the same period of time. Since we complement each other with different professional backgrounds and, at the same time, share the same values and goals, we decided to launch InGemeinschaft together.
Darius had already founded the startup Spreadly and previously worked for various startups and scaleups. Philipp works for an Uber startup and various scaleups in the mobility sector, among others.
Both are very familiar with the multigenerational shared living model. Darius has been living in a multigenerational shared apartment with an 82-year-old for over three years, and Philipp's parents have been renting a room in their house to students for years.
Munich Startup: What have been your biggest challenges so far?
InCommunity: The biggest challenge is reaching retirees and telling them about the project. This is where we encountered the biggest bottleneck, especially at the beginning, but this is gradually being resolved, and more and more seniors are learning about InGemeinschaft.
InGemeinschaft wants to make it “normal for people of different ages to live together”
Munich Startup: Where would you like to be in one year, where in five years?
InCommunity: Within a year, we want to have achieved widespread recognition for this housing model in society and gradually make it normal for people of different ages to live together. Over the next five years, we aim to have created tens of thousands of multigenerational shared apartments and thus a significant amount of additional living space.
Munich Startup: How have you experienced Munich as a startup location so far?
InCommunity: Munich is the best location in Germany to launch a startup. We receive support from all sides, both in the startup ecosystem and in politics and society. Social startups like InGemeinschaft have an ideal starting point here.
Munich Startup: Quick exit or long breath?
InCommunity: (Very) long breath… especially in the beginning it will take some time our concept to establish itself in society. At the same time, we see significant individual and societal added value and approach the matter with patience and a long-term perspective.
