From Finding a Home to Helping Others Find One: How hntr Supports Centrepoint
When Camilla De Cesare bought her first home in London, the experience was exciting but overwhelming.
Keeping track of properties, viewings, estate agents and the financial details of buying a home meant relying on a giant Excel spreadsheet, a phone full of photographs and plenty of worry about what might have been forgotten.
That experience inspired Camilla to create hntr, an app designed to help first time buyers navigate the home buying process, stay organised and understand what lies ahead.
But from the beginning, Camilla wanted hntr to do more than simply help people buy their first home. She also wanted it to help people who don't have a home at all.
“I realise how fortunate some of us are to be able to own our homes when others may not even have a place to call home at all.”
That is why hntr chose to support Centrepoint, the UK's leading youth homelessness charity. Centrepoint works with young people facing homelessness, providing accommodation, support and opportunities to help them move towards a secure and independent future.
For Camilla, the connection between hntr and Centrepoint was clear. While hntr helps people navigate the journey towards home ownership, Centrepoint works to help young people facing the much more fundamental challenge of having somewhere safe to call home.
“hntr's ultimate mission is to help as many people have a place to call home as possible.”
From the outset, giving was designed to be part of hntr's business model rather than something added later. As a solo founder fully self-funding the business, Camilla decided to donate 10% of all revenue to Centrepoint.
“I wanted to ensure it gave back from day one.”
Choosing to donate from revenue rather than profit was deliberate. It means that giving remains part of hntr's commercial activity as the business grows, rather than becoming dependent on whether the business reaches a particular level of profitability.
“That is why hntr donates a portion of revenue, versus profit, as it needed to give back from the beginning.”
The commitment is visible throughout the hntr experience, with the giving explained on the website and within the app. Users can therefore see that their own home buying journey is helping contribute to a very different kind of journey for someone else.
“Users are thrilled to know that their homebuying journey can also help others find a place to call home.”
For Camilla, that connection provides a powerful source of motivation as she continues to build hntr as a solo founder.
“I’m a solo-founder, fully self-funding hntr, and therefore I decided to make giving back a core pillar.”
Work for Good helps make that commitment straightforward, providing the structure and service that enables hntr to manage its charitable giving clearly and compliantly.
“It makes the process very clear and structured - thank you for creating Work for Good.”
hntr is still a young business, but its purpose was established from the very beginning. By connecting its commercial success with Centrepoint's work, the business has created a simple model in which growth can generate greater social impact.
At its heart, hntr is about helping people find their way towards a home. And through its partnership with Centrepoint, it is helping support people for whom having a safe place to call home is not yet a reality.
Key takeaway:
hntr shows how a business can build giving into its purpose from day one, creating a meaningful connection between what it helps its customers achieve and the wider social change it wants to support.
To learn more about hntr, please visit their website.