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Bob W , a mart for premium short - term apartment rentals , has raised € 40 million ( $ 43 million ) in a Series B circle of funding .
Founded out of Finland in 2018 , Bob W blow itself as a “ technical school - enabled hospitality manipulator , ” with some 3,000 “ aparthotels ” propose for tear in 17 cities across Europe , include Amsterdam , Athens , London , Berlin , Madrid , and Helsinki .
There ’s no escaping the myriad officeholder that have long operated in Bob W ’s distance , from U.S. juggernautssuch as Airbnbto Europe’svery own Booking.com . But there is a somewhat insatiate appetency for edition on the accommodation marketplace concept , include crossbreed framework that go the benefit of an apartment with the lifestyle associate with that of a hotel .
“Best of both worlds”
This school of thought is really where Bob W borrow its name from , as it ’s a contraction of “ good of both populace . ” But unlike the omnipresent Airbnb , which allows anyone to list a unornamented room or holding , Bob W pitches itself as a “ full - raft cordial reception manipulator and brand . ” What this think of is that it do and manoeuver the apartments itself through leasing and direction agreement , and it takes care of the whole experience — with engineering science corroborate much of this to help keep staff overheads down .
“ Our technology enables us to scale like no other — we recently launched two properties in Amsterdam , totaling over 150 flat in the city , with just four employee , ” Bob W co - founder and CEO Niko Karstikko enjoin TechCrunch . “ Compared to a hotel , the numeral of staff is a small fraction . ”
In addition to dedicated apps for Edgar Albert Guest , cleaners , and operation , Bob W variation integrations with the “ Internet of thing ” ( IoT ) to allow it to remotely manage properties and make insights into thing like temperature , humidity , and even noise through dB - spying sensor .
invitee are fall in code via the app to get at the property , while an in - app helper ( call in “ Bob W , ” naturally ) is on hand to deal out with issues remotely . On top of that , Bob W serves what it shout a “ full - Robert William Service digital market place ” that connects guests with local businesses , such as bike rental and gyms , and it can create a personalized package establish on the node ’s profile and premature activities on the platform .
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“ Our full - push-down list technology allows us to course a lovable full - avail hospitality offering with significantly few on - site employee , at a hardheaded ‘ autonomous hospitality ’ horizontal surface , ” Karstikko added .
This simulation , whereby Bob W uses commercial over residential properties , also means that Bob W is mostly immune to thegrowing array of regulationsdesignedto counterthe impingement that short - term holiday letting have on local communities .
“ The short - term rental regulations are principally aimed at hosting in residential apartments , ” Karstikko pronounce . “ We operate multi - unit assets that are signify for business use , in monovular or corresponding preferences to hotels . As we always operate according to local statute law and zoning , we do not have the risks that are often associated with hosting in residential apartment . ”
There are other instrumentalist out there with a similar hybrid proposition , such as Spain ’s UkioorOvermoon in the U.S. And each of these various platforms add up with a slightly unlike value proposition and objective market in judgment , but the general idea is the same : Here ’s somewhere decent to remain with flexible term , and it ’s neither a hotel nor an apartment .
Bob W , for its part , does n’t really have an “ ideal ” duration for girdle , and caters to anything from a few nights to several months . Karstikko say that more than one-half of its customers are individuals ; however , some 40 % are in reality B2B booking where a company rent an apartment for work trips or irregular accommodation for employee relocate for a chore .
“ Our typical B2B customers are next - gen company , like tech scale of measurement - ups , startups , or from the originative industries , ” Karstikko said .
Suite profit
What is perhaps most interesting about the six - twelvemonth - former company is its growth metrics . Karstikko says that they grew their revenues eight - flock in 2022 and tripled that again in 2023 — moreover , the troupe is profitable .
“ Despite three - times revenue growth in 2023 , eight of our 10 market ( countries ) were already highly profitable , with all markets commingle being profitable already,”Karstikko said .
Prior to now , Bob W had raise around € 31 million , and with another € 40 million in the money box , the party is well - financed to continue enlarge into more cities across Europe — and tenacious terminus , maybe even beyond .
“ We continue entering into new strategical mart within urban centers across Europe , with our most recent launching in Copenhagen and Amsterdam,”Karstikko said . “We are also intensifying our presence in existing markets . While our current focal point remain on Europe , there will be a point when we bulge out to look beyond Europe . ”
Bob W ’s Series B bout was lead byEvli Growth Partners , with involvement fromFlashpoint , Supercell Centennial State - father Mikko Kodisoja , and Taavet+Sten — theinvestment vehicle launched in 2021by Wise carbon monoxide - founding father Taavet Hinrikus and Teleport Colorado - founder Sten Tamkivi .
