KeyNest - secure and hassle-free key management
by Startacus Admin
The lowdown on Keynest, the startup that provides secure and hassle-free key management through a network of key holding stores
Airbnb hosts know that it can be a hassle getting a new guest settled in. Even getting the house key to them can mean taking time out of your day, using your lunch break, leaving your children waiting in the rain, and putting a strain on even the strongest marriage. We assume, anyway, though we are open to the possibility that this is an exaggeration. We wrote recently about GuestReady, the startup that does all of the hard work for hosts of things like Airbnb, but what about those who don’t want or can’t afford such an all-inclusive service?
London-based startup KeyNest is the ideal service for this. Their idea is simple: why rush about with keys when you could leave them safely with a shop or café?
The host provides the partner with the keys, and the guest or cleaner, etc., simply takes a 6-digit code to that partner as proof that the key is waiting for them. This tracked service updates the host whenever the key is picked up or dropped off. This method is an inexpensive alternative to things like smart locks, lock boxes, or the host simply travelling to meet the guest in person, which also puts a degree of pressure on the guest.
In 2017, KeyNest became the first official partner of Airbnb through the Host Assist Programme. Then, in November 2018, they won the British Small Business Grants competition, a monthly competition run by smallbusiness.co.uk.
This netted them £5,000 to spend on two projects: furthering their Airbnb integration to make it easier to manage property access and automate listings; and developing better automated lockers.
Since then, the startup has grown from UK-only to include locations across Europe, the US, and Australia. They say that their service is within 10 minutes of 90% of properties in the UK, and they intend to replicate this across those other locations as they continue to grow.
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Published on: 6th January 2020
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