iGMS

In our latest real estate tech entrepreneur interview, we’re speaking with Ivan Levchenko from iGMS.

Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Ivan Levchenko, and I’m a co-founder and the CEO of iGMS, a cloud-based vacation rental management software for hosts and property management companies. I’m an entrepreneur by nature and have built business projects from scratch in the B2B and B2C sectors, growing companies from 5 to 150 people. I’m also a host myself and, so, many of my expertise lies in the short-term rental market.

What problem does your product/service solve?

As a host, I’ve found that there are many time-consuming, routine tasks relating to the vacation rental industry that can actually be automated to help fellow hosts and property management companies work more efficiently. iGMS vacation rental software helps hosts to handle these day-to-day business activities and consequently scale their business.

Our major features include automated messaging, guest reviews, cleaning and team management, and financial reporting. Our tools take the headache out of listing on multiple platforms as hosts can manage all of their Airbnb, HomeAway & Vrbo accounts via one single interface.

What are you most excited about right now?

I’m most excited about developing our vacation rental software further and equipping it with the best functionality. Our roadmap for 2020 includes integration with Booking.com and a direct booking engine. We’re also going to pay attention to developing our API so that more partners can integrate.

The industry has grown tremendously and that really inspires and motivates me. I want to help our clients to enjoy the same growth so that they too can take their business to the next level. Some of our clients have tripled their number of properties in a year. That’s so exciting and we’re proud of their results!

What’s next for you?

In short, our vacation rental software wants to become the one-stop-shop with more integrations to cover the full scope of activities and automation for hosts. Our dedicated R&D team is working on developing AI and machine-learning solutions (we don’t want to do just scripts like most companies, but real AI). This will allow property managers to automate business processes to the max, as well as reduce the risks associated with human error.

The world of technology is changing every day. If you don’t embrace the changes, your business is doomed. There are hundreds of old-school PMS solutions that are already struggling as they don’t meet the new customer requirements. We certainly plan to stay ahead of the curve and will continue to do our best to support our clients with their arising needs.

What’s a cause you’re passionate about and why?

First thing, I’m passionate about my children and family. My life changed dramatically when my children were born and I really try to spend as much time as possible with my family. I like to take them out into the countryside and on hiking trips. I spend all evenings now only in the circle of my loved ones.

I’m also passionate about nature and our planet. Last summer, after a cruise to Alaska, I was deeply shocked at what Alaska’s largest glacier turned into: from a huge snow-white mountain to a small black hillock. It’s horrifying how many whales died from a lack of plankton and by how much the salmon were reduced. All of this happened in just 15 years!

I’m also concerned about plastic pollution. In our family, we not only refuse to use any plastic bags, but also don’t buy any plastic household utensils, including furniture that contain plastic materials.

We all choose and vote for what we want to support. If more people will buy eco-friendly and organic products, fewer harmful products will get produced that will just destroy our planet. Ultimately, for economic reasons, manufacturers will have to adapt to the new demand and change their technologies to what’s now relevant to the market.

Thanks to Ivan for sharing his story. If you’d like to connect, find him on LinkedIn here.

We’re constantly looking for great real estate tech entrepreneurs to feature. If that’s you, please read this post — then drop me a line (drew @ geekestatelabs dot com).

Source: geekestateblog.com