Need a House in a New City? The Answer Lies in an App….

THE START-UP WORLD

Allay not only lets users/tenants search for suitable homes to reside in without having to worry about brokerage or any registration fee but also lets them earn referral points. Once users cross the threshold points, they can avail discounts and cashback on the rent of property. Points can also be collected each time a payment of rent is made through the app. 

Moving into a new city comes with its own set of hardships, and finding the right place to call 'home' can be a daunting task. Entailing astronomical amounts of brokerage, deposits and denials finding a PG or a place on rent becomes a challenging process indeed. To add to the woes is the lurking possibility of untimely evictions.

To solve this predicament of people who are often on the move, or for those who have just moved into a city, a duo from the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Guwahati, Gitartha Kashyap and Madhurjya Bora have come up with a practical utility based app – Allay.

Allay is essentially an online place where one can book a house on rent and find a PG accommodation too. The masterminds behind this platform had actually embarked on their entrepreneurial journey (with a vision to create employment opportunities for the common man by harnessing the almost magical possibilities of technology) through their startup – Magitech Innovison LLP

Allay, helps users choose from numerous realty options listed on the app from the comfort of their homes. One can browse through and check photos of listed properties without personally approaching each and every property owner.

Citing the reason that inspired the duo to devise this App , Gitartha Kashyap, founder and director of Magitech Innovison LLP said, "One of my cousins had shifted into Guwahati for her higher education. Through her experience, I learned about the problems that people face while looking for a place to stay. She had to travel with a stranger (a broker) from one place to another trying to find a suitable rented accommodation. And after going through such a cumbersome process she found options that stretched beyond her budget and were not even satisfying in terms of her parameters for a rented pad." He adds, "After a thorough session of brainstorming, Madhurjya and I came up with this concept of 'Allay' which is a first-of-its-kind here in the region. We hope the App will help to reduce the difficulties that people have to face in new towns and cities that they move into."

So what is their master startup all about? Gitartha answers, "I have seen young and talented people losing hope on their entrepreneurial ideas. This is because they do not have access to a proper place where they can hone their skills and realise their dreams. In order to nurture and encourage talent we have linked entrepreneurship with technology and started Magitech Innovison LLP."

Gitartha states that the duo's aim at a personal level is to enhance the pool/ecosystem of work opportunities and provide a platform to individuals who are really keen on doing something which would prove beneficial to the society. In short Magitech Innovison LLP, provides a platform to young inventors who use their innovative ideas to make products for a futuristic society.

Magitech also organises workshops and provides training to students from schools and higher education institutions whereby these students get oriented with the practical real world application of theories that are part of the academic curriculum.

After its launch during the second wave of Covid, Allay has even helped patients in terms of finding quarantine and isolation facilities in hotels. Thereby the App is now also being leveraged in the hospitality sector. Today Allay is in a scalable stage with its operations in Guwahati, Tezpur Dibrugarh and Delhi. "We are looking for some good funding opportunities and soon Allay will be a household brand," says Kashyap.

Allay is now live for users to download and use on their smartphones. Allay not only lets users/tenants search for suitable homes to reside in without having to worry about brokerage or any registration fee but also lets them earn referral points. Once users cross the threshold points, they can avail discounts and cashback on the rent of property. Points can also be collected each time a payment of rent is made through the app.

Allay is now available on the Google Play Store to give Android users of the Northeast Region an experience of 'Home away from Home.

Incidentally, Gitartha Kashyap, the director of Magitech Innovision LLP comes from an industrial family. Hence he has insight and knowledge about marketing and accounting, among other things. Gitartha is the chief point of contact in terms of all business operations of the startup.

On the other hand the managing director, Madhurjya Bora's parents serve in the Railways. He is the chief technical head and manages the entire team of Magitech Innovision LLP. Both the partners studied in Don Bosco High School and completed graduation from Indian Institute of Information Technology, Guwahati.

Talking about some challenges that they faced in their entrepreneurial journey, Gitartha says "Many people still cannot differentiate between an App and a website. So we constantly need to explain every differentiation and be more specific about the app details. In Assam, people especially landlords and property owners are still reluctant towards online property dealing due to mishandling of properties by other companies. Therefore we need to be very liberal in our terms and conditions and also assure them about the safety and maintenance of the property as well as their ownership. Also since it's a zero broker app and we are really doing great in satisfying and fulfilling our customer needs, therefore the broker business is being hampered and many a times we need to face broker obstacles. Last but not the least; Guwahati is a big city with numerous pockets of hostels and rented homes. Therefore in the beginning it was difficult to cover each and every place. However, with the passage of time and acceptance by people we could train up a team to provide the best possible services to our clients."

Gitartha Kashyap and Madhurjya Bora

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