06/08/2020

COVID-19 is Transforming the Rental Economy

People's attitudes on what to rent have changed

"I thought we were dead,” said Manny Bamfo, the CEO of room-rental startup Globe.

During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Globe—a sharing economy platform for people to rent rooms from one another for a few hours at a time—faced a daunting existential crisis. Its original concept hinged on the idea that travelers or on-the-go professionals looking for a pit stop would find renting a room from a stranger appealing, and vice versa. But once the coronavirus hit, no one was traveling, the white-collar workforce was sheltering in place and the 'ick' factor of sharing space with strangers loomed large.

“Our hosts were like, I don’t want anybody in my house,” Bamfo said.

Please select this link to read the complete article from WIRED.