Latest News | Blueground
During the 2-month lockdown in Greece, Blueground, the extended-stay apartment rental company, worked with the nursing community to provide immediate and flexible apartments that are move-in ready, furnished and located near major hospitals & healthcare centers.
Also, the company offered 100 fully furnished and equipped apartments to employees and volunteers in the Healthcare sector. Finally, in late June, Blueground conducted a global survey on the impact of the lockdown on its guests.
Interview | Alex Chatzieleftheriou, Co-Founder & CEO
Describe what makes your company unique
Blueground imagines a world in which people can instantly feel at home wherever they choose to live. In a time where everything moves at the speed of a few clicks, finding, renting and furnishing a new apartment is still a time-consuming process. Blueground has created a fully controlled, techpowered living experience that revolutionizes the way people rent apartments in cities all around the world. We find ideally located spaces and turn them into beautifully designed and thoughtfully furnished homes. With our easy to book, totally turn-key apartments backed by our guest-app and attentive on-the-ground support, we help people simply show up and start living.
Point out one of your biggest challenges or proudest moments
One of my proudest moments was our first all hands meeting with our offices across 4 countries. Despite the fact that I was stressed and probably not the best presenter, it still felt awesome to bring all the employees together. I have spent time with almost each one of them since I lived in our first 4 expansion markets. Bringing everyone together on one call was a super exciting moment. It enhanced the realization that we have such an amazing team of people!
Share a memorable story as a member of the Endeavor Network
Endeavor has played a very supporting role in our Blueground story. The network has provided a series of ample connections with industry experts, other Endeavor entrepreneurs as well as an investment boost from Endeavor Catalyst. The most memorable story is how we got Kevin Ryan, a high-profile serial entrepreneur from New York, into our Board of Directors and as one of our investors. It was at an Endeavor fireside chat in Dubai, where I first got to meet Kevin. His insights and advice from that first discussion were super valuable to me. I found myself furiously taking notes and looking for more answers even after the chat was wrapped up. Once we began expanding into NYC, we spent several meetings trying to convince Kevin to join Blueground (an exception to his tradition of joining start-ups in their early stages). Fortunately, Kevin decided to come on board and all of his support has been pivotal to Blueground and to me personally as an entrepreneur. Without Endeavor, none of this would have been possible.
Describe what being an Entrepreneur means to you
Entrepreneurship to me is about creating a team that shares common goals and values. It is about creating an environment where people are excited to come to work every day and devote their energy and time. It’ s also about providing a better solution to an existing problem while making people happy and excited to show up at work.
How is your vision different today, compared to when you started the company?
I launched Blueground in order to reduce the hassle that comes with renting an apartment, which is a problem I experienced first-hand as a frequent business traveler and an expat. I believe that living in different cities, meeting people from different countries and experiencing diverse work environments can make you a wiser person as well as a better and more well-rounded professional. Blueground facilitates that for people. From the first day, our vision was (and still remains) to make people feel at home wherever they choose to live. This vision applies also to the Blueground family. We strive for all our employees to feel at home and be themselves. Therefore, we seriously encourage self expression and always urge our people to be their best.
What are the three traits of the ideal employee for you?
At Blueground, we look for four traits (3+1): • People who understand that TIME is everything. We believe that time is of the utmost importance. It is limited and therefore the greatest gift we can give ourselves, clients and others. • People who strive for EXCELLENCE. We view excellence as a guiding light towards which we want to take our product, our relationships and the quality of our work. • People who CARE deeply about their clients and colleagues. We invest time in understanding what our clients want and then exceed their expectations. Also, we care for our colleagues. Every day at Blueground we work to make sure our people are happy, successful and continuously developing. • People who embrace TRANSPARENCY. Transparency is a fair, honest, rewarding and time-saving approach to communication. It establishes trust and cultivates meaningful, long term relationships.
Blueground joined the Endeavor network in 2015
Blueground is a real estate tech company that wants to make people feel at home wherever they choose to live. The company offers beautifully furnished and thoughtfully equipped apartments for a month, a year, or even longer that are designed to help people simply show up and start living. Motivated by its mission to create a tech powered living experience that guests love, homed in an organization where great people are proud to work, Blueground has grown quickly, surpassing 3,500 apartments and 400 team members in twelve cities; New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., Seattle, Dubai, Istanbul, Paris, London and Athens. Blueground plans to have a presence in 50 cities around the world and a portfolio of more than 50,000 apartments.