Need a place to crash last-minute but don’t want to pay for a pricey, cookie-cutter hotel? Overnight can hook you up with a local to stay with right away. Request a room and Overnight averages just 45 seconds until you get a response, and in LA, the startup says its spots are 23% cheaper than equivalent dwellings on HotelTonight.
Overnight is Airbnb for people who don’t plan ahead. With $2.3 million in seed funding from Accomplice and CrossCut Ventures, it’s now officially expanding from LA, Austin, and Coachella valley to San Francisco. It also has hosts scattered across 40 countries around the world.
Overnight is designed to drop the heavy-handed calendaring of Airbnb and keep listings private unless a host approves a potential guest.
To use Overnight’s iOS app, you set up an authenticated account with your Facebook profile and drop a pin in the general area you want to stay. Nearby hosts get a push notification that lets you then check out your profile and if you have any mutual friends to make sure you don’t look scary. As long as they accept you, you’ll get a message that shows the photos and details of their place. If you approve, you’ll get the option to pay for the room and chat with host to coordinate entry.
One concern is that hosts might discriminate against certain races or types of people while making impulsive decisions about who to let stay.
Overnight won’t disclose the cut it takes of room prices but says it’s smaller than Airbnb. And without the need to schedule your place’s availability ahead of time, you can just leave Overnight on and accept requests only when you’re home.
Read rest of the article at: TechCrunch
