Alogi (Student Life Ecosystem)

Inspiration

We are a team of three students from Torres Vedras, Tomar, and Aveiro, and we know firsthand the frustration of securing accommodation in a new city. Two months ago, we started this project to create a student ecosystem that simplifies not just housing but also daily student life. Beyond making rentals seamless with online search, contract signing, and property management, Alogi integrates services, study tools, and cultural recommendations, ensuring students have everything they need to thrive in their new city.

The current rental process is slow, expensive, and outdated. A student from Algarve, for example, might have to:

Travel to Lisbon to visit a house.
Return home to decide.
Travel back to negotiate and sign the contract.
Return home again.
Finally, move in for the semester.

That’s at least two round trips, costing around 200€, a major burden for students.

Our goal? To eliminate unnecessary trips and expenses by enabling students to search, negotiate, and sign contracts entirely online, before they even set foot in their new city.

What It Does

Alogi is more than just a rental marketplace, it’s a student life ecosystem that streamlines the entire housing process while offering tools to support students beyond accommodation.

Smart Student Housing – A streamlined search-to-sign process where students can rent without unnecessary travel.
360° Virtual House Tours – Powered by Matterport’s API, allowing students to explore properties remotely.
Interactive Map & List Navigation – Seamless switching between map and list views for better exploration.
Digital Contract Signing – Secure, remote agreements with HelloSign.
Integrated Rental Management – After selecting a property, students create an account on our platform to:
- Review and sign tenancy documents.
- Access payment details provided by the landlord.
- View their account balance and maintenance requests 24/7 once the tenancy starts.
Essential Student Services – A network of laundromats, local businesses, and exclusive student discounts.
Tutoring Marketplace – A platform for students to find or offer tutoring services, making academic support more accessible.
Cultural & Leisure Recommendations – A break from studies is just as important as studying itself. Alogi helps students discover the best food spots, events, and social experiences, ensuring a healthy balance between academic focus and personal well-being.

Why It’s Different

Alogi goes beyond traditional rental platforms by offering a complete student ecosystem that supports both academic and daily life.

Built for Students, by Students – Designed by a team that understands the real challenges of student life, ensuring a user-focused experience.
More than Just a Marketplace – While other platforms simply list rentals, Alogi facilitates the entire rental process with integrated contract signing, rental management, and virtual tours, making renting seamless and stress-free.
Seamless and Interactive – Featuring map-based navigation, 360° virtual tours, digital contracts, and automated rental management, making the process intuitive and efficient.
More than Just Housing – Alogi combines housing, essential services, tutoring, and productivity tools into one unified platform that supports students year-round.
Encourages a Balanced Student Lifestyle – Academic success isn’t just about studying, our platform helps students stay productive while also enjoying their city, with cultural recommendations, social events, and leisure options to support well-being.

How We Built It

Alogi was designed to be scalable, efficient, and student-focused, ensuring an intuitive experience while integrating key features that simplify the housing process.

GitHub for Development – Our team collaborated using GitHub, ensuring efficient version control and smooth deployment.
Notion for Documentation & Team Organization – We use Notion as our team workspace, where we document everything from technical specifications to development roadmaps, ensuring structured workflows and clear communication.
Técnico’s Student Domains for Testing – We leveraged Técnico’s free student domains to test and refine our platform before moving to a commercial domain.

Tech Stack

Backend: Django (Python) (planned) – Will manage authentication, database interactions, and core logic.
Frontend: JavaScript & CSS – Currently used to build the interface. (React will be implemented later for a more dynamic experience.)
Database: PostgreSQL (planned) – Will provide secure and scalable storage for listings, users, and transactions.

APIs Integrated

OpenStreetMap – Provides location-based property searches and nearby services.
HelloSign (planned) – Will enable digital contract signing, making the rental process fully remote.
Matterport (planned) – Will support 360° virtual tours, allowing students to explore properties remotely.
Twilio & SendGrid (planned) – Will power SMS and email notifications, ensuring users stay informed.

Challenges We Ran Into

Transforming a Simple Website into a Full Web App

A basic listing website wouldn’t be enough, we needed a fully interactive platform that supports real estate listings, virtual tours, digital contracts, and rental management.

Attracting Landlords to Kickstart the Platform

A marketplace needs supply before demand. To bring in landlords, we:

Offered free property listings with professional photos and 360° virtual tours.
Handled ad management and onboarding to reduce friction for landlords.
Planned a long-term monetization strategy, where we start free and later introduce a commission-based model.

Managing Team Collaboration Efficiently

We used GitHub for version control, Notion for documentation, and structured meetings to track progress and align tasks.

Ensuring Year-Round Engagement Beyond Peak Rental Seasons

We introduced tutoring services, cultural recommendations, and study tools to keep users engaged beyond rental periods.

What's Next for Alogi (Student Life Ecosystem)

Public Launch & Expansion – Refining features based on user feedback and expanding housing and service listings.
Initiating Partnerships with Local Businesses – Collaborating with laundromats, restaurants, and student-friendly services to offer exclusive discounts and deals.
Career Consultancy Services – Offering free workshops and masterclasses to help students develop career skills and connect with recruiters. These sessions provide valuable networking opportunities, while recruiters can pay to promote job openings directly to students via targeted email campaigns.
Monetization Strategy – Implementing:
- One-time payments for landlords for best view positions.
- Commission-based rentals (percentage of the first month’s rent).
- Tutoring service fee, where the tutor pays a small commission instead of the student.
- Recruiter-paid job promotions, allowing companies to reach students through targeted job opportunity emails.

Alogi started as a housing platform, but our vision is to create a complete student ecosystem that simplifies and enhances university life beyond accommodation.