dibz

In Sweden, long housing waitlists have become a significant hurdle for many seeking rental apartments, particularly in cities like Stockholm and Gothenburg where demand far exceeds supply. Applicants often spend years on municipal and private waitlists, making it difficult to secure a home in a timely manner. Incoming dibz, startup working on solving that specific issue.

Dibz is a Swedish startup that solves a critical problem faced by many students and young professionals in Sweden: finding affordable housing. They successfully simplify the housing market by aggregating over 200 housing waitlists across Sweden into a single, easy-to-use platform. For a subscription fee, users can automate their registration and stay active on multiple housing waitlists, maximizing their chances of securing affordable housing.

The founders recognized the inefficiencies in Sweden’s housing system, where long waitlists—sometimes exceeding 20 years—are the norm and second-hand rentals come at exorbitant prices. Dibz emerged as a response to this significant problem through streamlining the complicated and lengthy waitlist process by providing a more efficient way to manage and access available housing options across the country.

says Oliver Åsbacka, the company CTO.

The founders Richard Valleryd, Oliver Åsbacka and Lovisa Qvarner, all from small towns, moved to Stockholm for higher education but quickly realized that finding a place to live was a bigger challenge than getting into prestigious universities. After sleeping on friends’ couches and navigating second-hand contracts with inflated rent prices which could cost up to three times the normal rent they decided to tackle the issue head on and quit their studies to build the platform.

Dibz officially started in September 2020 with the product going live in July 2021. Despite the initial technical challenges, they grew rapidly, amassing almost 50,000 paying users by 2024.

After bootstrapping in their beginning until they were down to “couch coins” they soon started gaining traction which set the stage for their next steps, including securing their first funding round. Now they are in a position to choose their investors.

The key to dibz’s success lies in its solution—automating the registration and maintenance of housing waitlists across Sweden by aggregating multiple housing waitlists into a single, easy-to-use platform. For a small monthly fee, users can automatically maintain their place in all of the 200+ different housing waitlists, greatly improving their chances of securing an apartment.

The system even prevents users from being kicked out of the waitlists for inactivity so users no longer have to manually log into different systems every few months in order to avoid it. The automation not only saves time but also significantly improves the chances of securing accommodation.

says Oliver, highlighting how automation can optimize the process and ease a burden that affects thousands of people.

The growth of dibz has been supported by various collaborations, including their involvement in the Infobip Startup Tribe program. The founders first encountered Infobip at Slush, where they were drawn in by the idea of experimenting with user communication solutions. They were seeking more reliable and cost-effective solutions for interacting with its users via email and SMS. Infobip’s competitive pricing and customization options made them the perfect fit for their needs.

Oliver notes:

With Infobip’s tools, dibz has streamlined communication processes like transactional emails and marketing, which have played a key role in their business operations. This partnership has allowed them to experiment and refine their communication strategies, further improving their service and ensuring they stay connected with their growing base.

In the next few years, dibz plans to continue expanding within Sweden, focusing on building verticals like parking and elderly care. While international expansion is on the horizon, the team is determined to grow sustainably, avoiding the rapid, unprofitable scaling that many startups fall into. For now, their focus is on ensuring they can meet the demand for housing and other services, such as parking and senior care, while remaining agile and efficient.

Their strategy remains rooted in sustainable growth, resisting the pressure to scale too quickly without a solid foundation. They are proving that with patience and strategy, local success can lead to a global opportunity and that sustainable startups can thrive with the right vision. And we’re proud to support them