The global marketplace helping international students find, tour and book a room near campus - in their own language, without the markup.
THE STORY
Every autumn, millions of students board flights to cities they have never seen, headed for universities where they will need a place to sleep long before orientation begins. Sorting that out from another continent - in another language, across a dozen time zones - is one of the least glamorous and most stressful parts of studying abroad. uhomes.com was built around that exact problem.
Founded in 2015 by Jason Yin, the platform - operated under the Uhouzz name - is an online marketplace for international student accommodation. Students search by city and university, filter by budget, room type and amenities, and book verified housing directly through the site. Today it lists more than two million beds across 500-plus cities in roughly 27 countries, drawn from a network of over 2,000 apartment brands.
What began serving primarily Chinese students studying overseas has grown into a broader international brand, with an R&D base in Tianjin and local offices in London, New York, Boston, Kuala Lumpur, Hanoi and Seoul. The company reports more than 2.5 million registered users and over 400,000 successful bookings, and says annual transaction volume passed 10 billion CNY by 2025.
WHAT IT DOES
International and study-abroad students - and the parents wiring deposits on their behalf - looking for housing near universities worldwide. On the supply side, more than 2,000 apartment operators and landlords list their rooms to reach that demand.
Booking a room sight-unseen from abroad is opaque and risky: unfamiliar contracts, language barriers, hidden agent fees and the fear of scams. uhomes.com turns a scattered, high-anxiety search into a single, verified booking flow with human support.
The platform's core promise to students is "zero agency fee, zero price markup" - it earns commission from operators, not renters. Add VR viewing, AI matching and multilingual consultants, and the differentiator is trust for a first-time renter far from home.
A decade focused on one narrow, messy market - global student housing - pairing China-based engineering with local consultant teams who speak Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and French across the student's own time zone.
PRODUCTS & SERVICES
uhomes.com bundles the search, the viewing, the booking and the awkward logistics of arriving in a new country into one platform.
Search, compare and book accommodation with location filters, transparent pricing and amenity detail across 500+ cities.
CORE · 2015Virtual reality tours, 3D mapping and floor plans so students inspect a property remotely before committing.
REMOTE VIEWINGAI-powered recommendations match students to rooms by budget, campus proximity and preferences.
SMART SEARCHOne-on-one professional support in six languages, guiding students through contracts and booking.
HUMAN SUPPORTRent and tuition payment processing, direct-to-provider payment for security, and airport pickup.
LANDING SERVICES2,000+ partner apartment brands including Vita Student, iQ Student Accommodation and Scape.
SUPPLY NETWORKBY THE NUMBERS
Relative reach of the platform across its core dimensions (indexed to the largest figure for illustration).
BUSINESS & MARKET
uhomes.com is a tech-enabled brokerage. It partners with student apartment operators and landlords and earns commission from those providers, keeping the student-facing experience fee-free and markup-free. Revenue scales with booking volume; reported annual transaction volume topped 10 billion CNY by 2025, and third-party estimates put annual revenue near $50M.
It competes in the international student accommodation and PBSA (purpose-built student accommodation) space against players like Student.com, Amber (AmberStudent), University Living, Nestpick and Spotahome. Its edge is a China-rooted origin story, a large Asian student base and a heavy investment in remote viewing and multilingual human support.
FOUNDER & FUNDING
Jason Yin (Yin Jiankun) started uhomes.com in 2015. Before founding the company he served as a Vice President at Chinese education giant New Oriental, and he holds an MBA from Peking University - a background that pairs the education market with entrepreneurship.
The company has raised roughly $30M across multiple rounds from investors including New Oriental, TransLink Capital, Yonghua Capital and Tianjin Venture Capital.
uhomes.com (Uhouzz) launches in China.
Backed by investors including TransLink Capital and New Oriental.
Additional capital fuels international expansion beyond the Chinese student base.
Reported annual transaction volume crosses 10 billion CNY.
IN ITS OWN WORDS
Average customer rating on Trustpilot.
Across Asia, Europe and North America.
Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and French support.
FAQ
A global online marketplace for international student accommodation, letting students search, compare and book verified housing near universities in 500+ cities.
It promotes a "zero agency fee, zero price markup" policy for students and earns commission from apartment operators instead.
It was founded in 2015 by Jason Yin (Yin Jiankun), who serves as CEO and previously worked at New Oriental.
An R&D base in Tianjin, China, plus offices in London, New York, Boston, Kuala Lumpur, Hanoi and Seoul, serving students across roughly 27 countries.
Through VR and 3D virtual tours, AI property matching, detailed floor plans and multilingual consultants, plus services like tuition payments and airport pickup.
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Figures are drawn from public sources and company statements and are approximate; some financials are third-party estimates.