For French couple turned Perth residents Audrey Krukoff and David Abitbol, their idea came when travelling in a campervan around the country, like thousands of tourists each year.

 

“We would drive into a new city or town and it was a real pain to find a place to park the campervan, ” Mr Abitbol said. “One day I had enough, and I asked this guy if I could park in front of the garage, and he says ‘no worries, mate’.” The couple did it a few more times, and then the light bulb switched on.

 

Mr Abitbol created a website, and a few months later Homecamp was born.

 

The site, launched in February, is like Airbnb for campers.

 

Homeowners can register their property as camper-friendly and host tourists as they wish.

 

Homecamp is a small part of what is developing into a burgeoning technology start-up companies scene in Perth.

 

The RAC, accounting firm KPMG and IT company Amcom have all started “accelerators” — a process where a company or an organisation offers financial backing, usually about $20,000 to $60,000, for a select group of start-up companies to develop their businesses in the hope they become the next Uber or Facebook.

 

An estimated 4000 people work in tech start-ups across WA.

 

For the two French nationals, the accelerator program is about learning from people.

 

“We only have a handful of homes in WA at the moment, ” Mr Abitbol said. “But the sharing economy is all about trust.”

 

© The West Australian

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