Success for student accommodation site

It’s been two years since University of Cape Town (UCT) alumnus Alexandria Procter made waves in the student accommodation space with her site, digsconnect.com. UCT News caught up with her to find out what’s been happening since that interview in June 2017.

“Right after the interview, a bunch of landlords and students contacted me, saying how excited they were for DigsConnect to launch and it felt like things were going great,” Procter recalled.

“A couple days later, it felt like everything was over.”

DigsConnect is an online platform connecting registered tertiary students to off-campus accommodation. Its entry into the market, the focus on safety as well as its response to the ongoing student accommodation crisis meant it was bound to make waves. And that it did but, as Procter mentioned, things soon began to fall apart.

The person she had been working with left, allegedly taking with him a fair share of their working capital and the technical know-how, which she lacked.

She didn't give up, however.

“Technical knowledge can be learnt, and capital can be raised, but without resilience, determination and a can-do attitude, a start-up won’t get anywhere.”

Procter’s resilience and relationships at UCT paid off. Just a few weeks later, a friend from her Studentsʼ Representative Council (SRC) days, Greg Keal, joined her on the project. Keal was chair of the SRC’s entertainment and fundraising portfolio.

And a few months after that, another UCT alumnus, Brendan Ardagh, joined DigsConnect, to complete their founding team.

“Technical knowledge can be learnt, and capital can be raised, but without resilience, determination and a can-do attitude, a start-up won’t get anywhere.”

Achieving growth

The journey since then has been a lot kinder to the DigsConnect team. Monthly growth of over 60% for listings and over 61% for users has been recorded. There are thousands of UCT students regularly visiting the start-upʼs social media and online pages.

So, what does it take to achieve this kind of growth?

Firstly, “[there] was an obvious problem, and this was the obvious solution”. DigsConnect began as an answer to the housing crisis Procter witnessed during her time on the SRC.

Less than a year after launching and despite the initial setback, the site achieved 2 000 listed rooms, the celebration of which made national news.

DigsConnect also provides a solution for homeowners who are looking to supplement their income. The platform, therefore, provides the missing link between landlords, real estate agents, property managers and students.

The second contributor to their success has been the foundation provided by UCT.

“I think UCT was instrumental in guiding our journey. [It] is an incredible place that provides so many opportunities to learn and grow, both inside and outside the lecture theatres,” said Procter.

She credits passionate lecturers and the founding team’s involvement in societies and sports teams, which taught them to “lead, develop our thinking and to push ourselves out of our comfort zone”.

Innovation and improvements

Rather than rest on their laurels, the team is constantly looking to innovate.

“I think because of our ages – we’re all in our early to mid-20s – we know what’s important to students, and how to build a product that actually will add immense value to studentsʼ lives.”

This includes building an online community through a new feature called “Virtual Res”. Using their university-issued email addresses, students are added to their institution’s Virtual Res where they can find campus mates with whom to share digs, and be part of a community-driven verification system for other students and landlords.

The aim of this is to ensure students are living in environments that promote learning, academic well-being, and fun.

“After all, varsity is one of the most memorable times of your life, and digsconnect.com wants to be there as part of that journey with you,” said Procter.

As for the landlords, digsconnect.com provides features such as a viewings booker, search-by-map and auto-invoicing, and includes Jammie Shuttle routes on its maps.

Going national

In addition to growing in user numbers, the DigsConnect platform has gone national. Students across the country in hubs like Johannesburg, Pretoria, Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown can now find accommodation. But the team has also reached out to government.

 

“We’re thrilled to roll up our sleeves and get to work, building the future of educational communities.”

At a city level, DigsConnect is working with Johannesburgʼs housing and student accommodation task team to “create a student ecosystem in the heart of Johannesburg”. The aim is to turn “a derelict and run-down area into a thriving living-and-learning community”.

“We’re thrilled to roll up our sleeves and get to work, building the future of educational communities,” said Procter.

At a national level, DigsConnect has entered into talks with the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) to help the non-profit leverage technology to “unlock the potential of young students by providing the much-needed financial support”.

“It’s still very early days, but we’re super excited about the synergies here, and what, working together, we can build for students in South Africa.”

Their plan for 2019 also includes continuing conversations with tertiary institutions. Procter invites vice-chancellors and heads of student housing to get in touch so that they can assist in finding students safe accommodation.

“Mandela said education is the greatest tool with which to change the world, and we’ve taken that statement to heart,” she said.

“We’re all passionate about our community and about our country, and we see the youth as the future of South Africa and the agents of change.”