Introducing the Founding Hosts Programme
We've spent months building Alfred, our calendar-driven heating automation system for short-term rentals. Now it's time to put it in real properties, with real guests, managed by real operators.
Today we're opening the Founding Hosts Programme — an invitation for 20 forward-thinking rental operators to be the first to use AirAutomate in production.
What is the Founding Hosts Programme?
It's our early access programme for operators who want to:
- Eliminate heating waste across their portfolio
- Guarantee warm arrivals for every guest, automatically
- Shape the product with direct input to our engineering team
Founding Hosts get Alfred before anyone else, at a fraction of the eventual price, in exchange for feedback that helps us build the best possible product.
What You Get
Hardware included — we'll ship you Alfred devices for up to 5 properties, completely free. Each device connects to your existing heating system and requires no specialist installation.
Founding Host pricing — during the programme (minimum 6 months), you'll pay just 3.99 per property per month. That's less than a single hour of wasted heating. When we launch publicly, Founding Hosts lock in this rate for life.
Direct access — you'll have a direct line to our engineering team via a private Slack channel. Feature requests, bug reports, suggestions — we want to hear it all. Your feedback directly shapes our roadmap.
Priority support — if something goes wrong, you go to the front of the queue. We're building our reputation on reliability, and Founding Hosts are our proving ground.
What We Need From You
This isn't a free trial. We're looking for partners who are genuinely invested in making their operations more efficient. Here's what we ask:
Active portfolio — you should have at least 2 properties with regular bookings. Alfred needs real booking data to demonstrate its value.
Willingness to install — the Alfred device is a simple plug-and-play unit that connects to your heating relay. Installation takes about 15 minutes. We'll walk you through it via video call if needed.
Honest feedback — tell us what works, what doesn't, and what you wish it did. Monthly check-ins (30 minutes) help us understand your experience and prioritise improvements.
Patience — you're using a product that's still being refined. There may be rough edges. We'll fix them fast, but we need partners who understand the early-access tradeoff.
How to Apply
We're accepting applications now. The process is simple:
- Fill out the form on our For Operators page
- We'll review your application within 48 hours
- Short call — a 15-minute chat to make sure we're a good fit for each other
- Hardware ships — devices arrive within a week of approval
We're limiting the programme to 20 operators to ensure we can give everyone the attention they deserve. If you're interested, apply sooner rather than later.
Why Now?
Heating season is approaching, and the operators who join now will have Alfred fully calibrated and optimised before the cold months hit. Early participants also get the most influence over the product roadmap — the features we build next will be shaped by what Founding Hosts need most.
We're building AirAutomate to be the automation layer for short-term rental operations. Heating is just the beginning. But we believe in starting small, getting it right, and expanding from there.
If that approach resonates with you, we'd love to have you on board.