When he worked as a film producer, Alex Kolodkin realized that his peers could really use a product that simplified the process of finding filming locations. It led him to establish Set Scouter, one of the companies due to graduate from Communitech’s Rev accelerator on Sept. 18.

“When I was a producer, there was one time I couldn’t find a kitchen,” Kolodkin said in an interview last week. “I ended up asking my Mom to connect me with her friends.”

The Ryerson University grad knew there had to be a simpler way so he founded Set Scouter, which is an online marketplace for film makers that need residential film locations. He describes the product, which he launched in July 2013, as Airbnb for the film industry.

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Toronto-based Set Scouter lets filmmakers – mainly those making commercials –search for the perfect set among more than 1,000 locations listed by residential property owners. The almost-three-year-old company has a catalogue of locations available for filmmakers, mainly in the Toronto area, and it is expanding it rapidly.

The company has not yet raised a nickel of investment, but it has had the assistance of two renowned mentoring organizations: Ryerson’s Digital Media Zone, which it joined in March 2013; and the Rev program, which it entered this year.

Kolodkin says the DMZ was the perfect institution for Set Scouter during its formative years, because it taught him to look beyond his product and understand his customers. Now the Rev accelerator has built on that base and taught him the process of developing sales systems.

“I probably would have [eventually] learned everything that I have learned in Rev, but I wouldn’t have learned it as fast or as systematically,” he said. He added that sales are the lifeblood of a bootstrapping company, so learning sales systems quickly means he’s been able to build a more stable company.

Kolodkin would not reveal sales figures but he said he has had “exponential” month-on-month revenue growth since joining Rev, which represents a huge improvement over his previous sales record.

Through Rev, he’s also overcome his fear that professional location finders in the industry were his competition. He now understands Set Scouter is a tool they can use that they can be customers rather than competitors.

Kolodkin is growing the business in the Toronto area, but he also offers locations as far afield as Tunisia, Italy, Greece and Australia. He is now plotting to expand into the U.S., hopefully in the first quarter of 2016. He’s planning to grow one city at a time in the Northeast, beginning with New York, because it is the advertising capital of the country. 

He's also planning to raise an undisclosed amount of capital, though he won't say how much. He's also glad he's growth the company so far through sales. 

"We definitely know how to hustle," he said. "And the focus on customers has defined our company culture."