David Casanova, Manuel Herrero and Smith Donkor launched the Erasmus Play platform in August 2020. It searches for and compares accommodation for university students, both nationally and in Europe. In this interview, David will explain the project and tell us about his experience as an entrepreneur.

What is Erasmus Play?
It searches for and compares accommodation for Erasmus Play university students, both nationally and internationally. What it does is make the process of finding accommodation easier. It brings together all the accommodation offers of the main accommodation platforms in the network in a single area; housing, residence, bedroom or shared flats. We would be the equivalent of Skyscanner for flights or Trivago websites for hotels. It would be the same functionality. Completely free, open access, made for students and young professionals traveling to other countries. We launched it on August 24, 2020 but then we only covered Spanish cities.

What services does it offer? What information does it provide?
We try to make the whole process easier, because often the student goes to a city and doesn’t know what is there or what he will find. We provide information about the city, a bit generic, also about the university and, especially on the subject of accommodation, we attach great importance to having fully verified flats and students know all the information, from the main features, study table, washing machine, microwave, apartments with the internet, a window or a balcony ... And we also emphasize the location of the accommodation, which is how far away from the faculty where the student will spend the most time. All of this is to make the process easier, so you don’t have to go looking for accommodation and then go to Google Maps to find out how far from the university it is. We centralize everything in the search engine.

How did you come up with the idea?
It is an idea that arises through personal experiences. We were Erasmus students 4 or 5 years ago and we went through this. We noticed that there was a real problem when looking for accommodation and that no one had done anything to fix it. Yes, there are several companies that offer accommodation that we are collaborating with, but many specialize in a particular country or city and we saw that there was nothing generic. Then, with the aim of turning this service into a reference portal, we came up with the idea of ​​grouping all these companies. As a result, Erasmus Play was created. Gradually we worked on the idea. Thanks to the University of Zaragoza, we started collaborating with other Spanish universities. We started providing services to students looking for accommodation in Spanish cities and we have already launched them in Europe to be global.

What are the advantages of using Erasmus Play?
The main advantage is the ease and comfort of finding a new apartment or home. In this tool you will find all the companies aimed at offering this type of service. You don’t have to compare it on multiple websites or make unnecessary registrations. All of this leads to significant time savings and above all it ensures that the place you are looking at is completely reliable. We only work with platforms that are able to verify residencies so that the student knows that he or she will not be cheated because there is a lot on the market today.

What do students value most when choosing accommodation?
We realized that what they value most is the price, as can be normal, but also the location of the accommodation. They are mainly looking for university areas that are close to the university, and that the apartment is suitable or has the main features for the student, such as a simple table, and that the housing is in good condition. The first students were more passive in this area, but they are more and more demanding and it is normal for them to look for good quality apartments at a good price.

Has the pandemic affected you?
Yes. It caught us in the middle of development and gave us a bit of a change in mentality and approach to strategy, but it has mostly been very damaging in mobility. Many students had to drop out of an Erasmus scholarship or mobility in the first semester and many of them postponed it until the second semester or next year. So we have noticed that the forecasts we had at the beginning have been quite affected and that mobility has been reduced by a large percentage.

How would you encourage young people to use Erasmus Play?
It's very simple. We are very present on social media and they can find us from there. Simply say that the usability and manipulation of the tool is very simple, very intuitive, that the student likes it, and that accessing the website is as easy as putting the city or university you are going to. Select start and return dates and you can compare the entire offer from the platforms in a very simple way. In addition, they can apply filters such as bedrooms or houses, prices, private room, shared or residential ...

How do you feel Generando Futuro IX. After receiving the award?
It’s an award that has been very good for us, especially because it’s our first startup we set up with three entrepreneurs and it’s a great help in starting a business, because everything is difficult in the beginning and even more so when there are situations like this. So this helps you a lot to grow faster and more sustainably.

What is the best and worst way to start a business?
The best thing is that you are able to create and grow your business and, above all, that you offer the service you have proposed and create the value you have always wanted to achieve, it was ultimately to identify the problem that existed and continues to exist. There is nothing greater for us than to know that we are giving our residual grain for this cause.

And at worst, I wouldn’t have anything special. You need to know that commitment involves a lot of time, you will have to make a lot of implications, and you will have to put aside other things that are not considered. So it’s very important to be aware of what you’re dealing with.

Did you encounter any obstacles along the way?
Covid has been a very big obstacle, and you always encounter obstacles. You get a lot of no, but you get happy with a yes and it gives you the strength to keep going. Then you adapt as best you can and gradually improve in every aspect.

What advice would you give to new entrepreneurs?
That training is very important, and that the attitude of the entrepreneur is very important to me. You need to be very clear about what you want to achieve and from there, start setting small goals that allow you to achieve the ultimate goal. Work, work and work, and above all have great faith in it until you achieve what you have proposed.

What are your plans for the future?
In December 2020 we made the expansion to Europe. We started providing accommodation in Spain because we thought it was a good way to start. It was a new company and we decided to start it that way, but we realized that there are a lot of students who want to use the mobility service outside of Spain. It was something we always had in mind. The aim is to be in the main cities of Europe and gradually get coverage in the more cities the better.