How Flats for Friendz went from an Instagram project to a startup

A shared room in a completely renovated dream period building in a central location, morning sun in the bedroom, sunset on the balcony – and all for just €400? Anyone who's ever looked for a shared room knows: That's about as realistic as finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Because anyone looking for an apartment in big cities like Berlin, Hamburg, or Munich today needs more than just luck – they need strong nerves. Fake ads, dubious conditions, and completely overcrowded platforms often leave apartment seekers in a mixture of hope and mistrust. That's exactly where Flats for Friendz founder Alexander Weiss came in – initially quite spontaneously, out of personal frustration.

During his bachelor's degree, he observed people desperately posting their apartment searches on Instagram stories – only to find that they'd disappeared after 24 hours. "That annoyed me," says Weiss when Gründerszene meets him in a co-working space in Berlin Mitte. He couldn't program, nor could he build his own network – so he used what already existed: Instagram. "That was perhaps one of the really good and important ideas I've had in recent years."

Alexander Weiss

So in 2020, he launched a simple Instagram page with a self-made template for his circle of friends: fill out, tag, post. "We had city-specific story highlights – Bremen, Hamburg, Munich, Berlin – and saved the apartment posts there. This way, they remained visible for more than 24 hours." That was the first step. The second was almost even more important: People clicked on the profiles and realized: "Ah, that's Nina – I don't know her, but we have ten contacts in common." Trust was established – where traditional platforms often only offer anonymity.

For five years, Flats for Friendz (FFF for short) grew organically, fueled by reposts and a digital archive. Since last year, it has become a full-fledged company – with its own app, team, and clear vision.

With FFF, the founder is specifically addressing the insecurity that many people experience when searching for housing on traditional platforms – especially young women. "The main problem is the mix of anonymity and desperation. This is an ideal breeding ground for fraud and assault."

FFF is therefore focusing on visibility: More than half of users link their Instagram profile, appearing with their real name, picture, and network. Each login must be confirmed via SMS – a higher level of security than with email-only accounts.

"In six months, we've only had three to four reported incidents, and we've handled them radically. I personally review every single report," says the founder. He plans to introduce additional ID verification in the future.

FFF was financed by "family and friends" investors – people from the company's environment who believe in the idea and don't expect a tenfold exit after two years, says Weiss. "I used to work at a company where we were under brutal pressure to grow. Today, it's more important to me that we grow perhaps a little slower, but more sustainably."

Weiss answers the question about an exit openly but calmly. "Of course I'm thinking about it—as a founder, you're often criticized for that. But it's a sound line of thought." He doesn't currently want to sell. Rather, he sees great potential in the brand, the business model, and the problem it addresses.

"If someone comes along who shares our vision and can grow faster with us, I'll take a look. But I don't get up in the morning to optimize the company for an exit."

As a solo founder, he experiences daily what it means to hold all the strings in his own hands. "In the early days of a startup, it's all about survival – 'you don't want to die.'" They've now left that phase behind them. Nevertheless, founding a company still involves dealing with uncertainty on a daily basis. "You never have all the data. In the end, you need gut feeling, experience, and qualitative and quantitative information."

Without a co-founder, everything falls on him – which can be stressful. "The last year in particular has been challenging. Of course, there are days when I don't feel particularly well. But I'm honest and brave enough to tell my team that."

Today, he's more conscious about his time. "I'm only 29 once. If a good friend is getting married or having a bachelor party, I go. Last year, that would have been unthinkable. Now, I'm consciously making time for it. Because only when I feel good and am healthy can I do justice to my role as a founder."

This is also crucial for the team: "People here are investing the most valuable thing they have – their time. They don't want a founder with dark circles under their eyes who can't utter a coherent sentence after three all-nighters. Sure, that can happen sometimes – but it mustn't become a culture."

Still FFF is often reduced to its origins as an Instagram template. "Many say, 'Oh, you're that Insta template.' That shows our biggest challenge: making the mind shift to the app." Many still ask him if he actually does this full-time, even though the startup now has seven people working for it.

The founder was particularly touched by a message from Munich. A Spanish user wrote to him that after months of searching for an apartment, FFF had finally found what she was looking for – and was able to celebrate Christmas there with her family.

"She sent us a picture of them sitting together in the living room. Honestly, moments like these mean everything to me. It makes you think: All the madness we're doing here in Berlin-Mitte in a co-working space with oat milk is actually having a real impact."

What drives him isn't the vision of a quick market breakthrough – but rather the solution to a concrete problem. "I didn't want to calculate market potential on a PowerPoint slide. I wanted to solve a real problem – the one that bothered me personally."

At first, he only invested a few minutes a day. "But I just stuck with it." For him, it's clear: "You can calculate anything—from ten million to three billion euros. But that's not what it's about. It's about getting started."