Israeli Reservists Launch Roomers to Fix Tel Aviv's Sublet Market

Finding a sublet in Tel Aviv has long been a chaotic process scattered across Facebook groups, Instagram stories, and word-of-mouth recommendations. For Idan Schiller and Naor Wallerstein, two 23-year-old friends from Kfar Saba, the frustration of searching for a temporary apartment while serving in IDF reserve duty at the Kirya military base sparked a novel idea: building a dedicated platform to streamline the entire market.

Building Roomers with AI

Despite their background in technology, the duo developed the platform largely through vibe coding, utilizing tools such as Base44 and Claude Code. The development process took about half a year, with much of it conducted concurrently with active reserve service. Working through numerous hurdles, the founders relied on persistence, feedback from startup mentors, and daily learning to bring their vision to life.

We saw all the chaos of sublets in Facebook groups and stories, and we said we would try to solve this problem ourselves.

Ahead of its launch last September, the founders dubbed the platform Roomers and focused heavily on curating an initial inventory of apartments so new users would not encounter an empty site. The platform allows users to list sublets or search for apartments based on specific criteria, connecting parties directly without routing rental payments through the service.

Growth and Future Plans

Since its launch, the platform has attracted over 1,000 users, centralizing hundreds of apartments and handling hundreds of inquiries daily. Operating entirely free of charge, the service relies on organic social media marketing, word-of-mouth, and even posting flyers along the promenade. Looking ahead, the founders aim to make Roomers the definitive hub for sublets in Tel Aviv, with potential plans to expand to other major cities like Haifa, Beersheba, and Jerusalem once the local market is fully conquered.