The scene at a recent meeting of one of the latest Israeli start-ups
couldn't
be more typical. Four young creative people gathering on the rooftop of a
north Tel
Aviv apartment, all of whom left their successful high-powered jobs to
put all of their energy into their new baby. While the story behind the
start-up may be
familiar, the product itself is somewhat unique.
Homedine.in is a web-based community for people to host meals in their
homes for people that they have never met before. While the official business
model is still in the works, the concept resembles a food version of popular
hosting websites such as
CouchSurfing or
Airbnb.
Sagiv Ofek, the CEO and brains
behind the operation, believes that there is huge demand for the product, which
connects those who like to cook with those who like to eat. "My grandmother
likes to cook but she always eats alone," Ofek says. "The family has all moved
out. She just wants to invite people to her home to eat with her." It is this
philosophy that inspired the conscientious young entrepreneur to develop the
system that allows amateur cooks to open up their homes for anyone that is
interested in being hosted.
Ofek is not alone in his vision. He has been joined
by three other young Israelis who are just as driven to succeed. Almost as if he
read a textbook on how to form the perfect Israeli start-up, Ofek was joined by
a friend from the army, Elad Cohen, a friend from high school, Koby Meshi, and a
media consultant he met at a software development event, Orit Segev.
The story
began back in November when Ofek came up with the idea at the Angel Hack
Hackathon in Tel Aviv, a place where software developers come together to work
on new projects. Over the course of the hackathon, he not only finalized the
venture but won a place in the finals, which will take place in Silicon Valley
in California in January. It was also at the hackathon that Ofek met Segev;
within a month Cohen and Meshi were on board and the website was launched.
Ofek
traces the idea that inspired the website back to his family. "I ate Shabbat
dinner with my family and my father told my mother that she is such a good cook,
she should open up her own restaurant," Ofek recalls. After his mother insisted
that she doesn't have the money to invest in something like that and she doesn't
want to deal with it, Ofek came up with the idea for HomeDine.in when she
explained that all she wanted to do was cook for other people. "Everyone who
wants to cook can open up their own home restaurant - they can either do it for
fun or charge money for it," Ofek explains. "The website is a great opportunity
for anyone who likes food to have a chance to cook for other people."
The scope
for the website, however, reaches much further than grandmothers and mothers who
want to feed hungry mouths for fun. The website can be used by anyone in any
situation, explains Ofek. "It can be used by students who want to eat with other
people or a single mother who wants to earn some extra income."
Cohen explains
this concept in more detail by describing a scenario in which the website can
come in useful. "Imagine yourself going abroad and you want to eat kosher," he
says. "There is no kosher restaurant around you but there is a Jewish person who
is preparing food and is willing to invite you as a stranger and a tourist to
their home. It helps the people." Cohen stresses that even if someone isn't
specifically looking for kosher food, they may be looking for local ethnic food
wherever they are in the world.
While the young team hopes to set up a global
community for a wide range of users around the world, the Jewish and Israeli
influence is very present in the concept. Ofek provides the example of a Jewish
person from America who is in Israel and looking to eat a Shabbat dinner with a
local family. He explains that anyone who is hosting a Shabbat dinner can invite
a few extra guests and feel good about hosting. "The idea is that if you are
already cooking for yourself why not just invite other people to help share the
cost of the meal and meet new people."
As well as Israel, successful dinners
have already been hosted in places such as New York and London. While the core
of the community is in Israel, the team plan to expand to the US and beyond.
"First the US - then we are planning to take over the world," Cohen confidently
exclaims. When meeting with the four young entrepreneurs, it's hard not get
caught up in the brave enthusiasm that drove them all to quit their jobs and
launch into this new venture.
Meshi, who is currently a law student, is
confident that the format will be embraced because of its simplicity. Anyone
that wants to host an event can do so. People log onto the site through their
Facebook account and that helps verify the identity of the users to a certain
extent, Meshi explains. The aim is to create a community whereby friends of
members will automatically know what meals are being hosted. In an attempt to
maintain certain standards and a level of accountability, users are able to
review the host after the event and see if they are reliable or not.
"We are
very open minded when it comes to guidelines," Meshi states. "In the terms and
conditions it talks about being respectful and the importance of following
normal codes of conduct for hosting." When setting up an event through the
website, hosts can either decide to put on a meal for free or they have the
ability to charge a small amount per guest. They can also decide on a minimum or
maximum number of guests and can decide who to approve. To add to the
interactive nature of the community, once a meal has been set up, the host can
upload pictures as they are cooking and update information as and when it
changes.
Even though meals are organized over the Internet, Meshi says that the
platform gives people a chance to actually socialize in person at a dinner
rather than just chatting over the Internet. "Everybody talks about social media
and communities, but what is more social than meeting together over a
home-cooked meal," adds Ofek.
Ofek is also quick to point out that when it comes
to events where people are entering other people's homes, the liability of the
website is very important. "You cannot just approve any stranger," he explains.
"We are trying to do as much as possible to make the system more reliable."
The
first official meal to launch the site with all four founders in attendance took
place recently in Tel Aviv. Guests were treated to a vegan meal provided by
Chef
Rani Rotem, hosted at Ari Leon
Fruchter's Tel Aviv apartment. The event brought together a group of people,
many of whom have never met each other before, who came together to enjoy a
dinner party in a home that they have never been to before. For many in
attendance it was also the first time eating a fully vegan meal. Judging by the
empty plates, it was quite the success.