Bob Wa marketplace for short-term high-end apartment rentals, has raised 40 million euros ($43 million) in a Series B funding round.
Founded by Finland in 2018, Bob W bills itself as a “tech-enabled hospitality manager,” with around 3,000 “apartment hotels” offered for rent in 17 cities across Europe, including Amsterdam, Athens, London, Berlin, Madrid and Helsinki.
There’s no escaping the myriad of incumbents who have long been active in Bob W’s space, from US fliers like Airbnb to Europe very own Booking.com. But there is a somewhat insatiable appetite for variations on the lodging market concept, including hybrid models that combine the benefits of an apartment with the lifestyle associated with that of a hotel.
“The best of both worlds”
This philosophy is actually where Bob W borrows its name from, as it is a contraction of “the best of both worlds.” However, unlike the ubiquitous Airbnb, which allows anyone to list a spare room or property, Bob W bills itself as a “full-stack hospitality manager and brand.” That means it manages and manages the apartments itself through leases and management contracts, and takes care of the whole experience — with technology underpinning much of it to help reduce staff overhead.
“Our technology enables us to scale like no other — we recently launched two properties in Amsterdam, totaling over 150 apartments in the city, with just four employees,” Bob W co-founder and CEO Niko Karstikko told TechCrunch. Compared to a hotel, the number of staff is a small fraction.
In addition to dedicated apps for guests, cleaners and functions, Bob W sports integration with the internet of things (IoT) to allow it to remotely manage properties and gain information on things like temperature, humidity, even and noise through decibel detection Sensors.
Guests receive codes via the app to access the property, while an in-app assistant (called “Bob W” of course) is on hand to deal with issues remotely. In addition, Bob W serves what it calls a “full-service digital marketplace” that connects guests with local businesses such as bike rentals and gyms, and can create a personalized package based on the guest’s profile and past activities on the platform.
“Full-stack technology allows us to have a lovable full-service hosting offering with significantly fewer on-site employees, at a practical ‘standalone hosting’ level,” added Karstikko.
Bob W app Image credits: Bob W
This model, whereby Bob W uses commercial versus residential real estate, also means that Bob W is largely immune to the growing array of regulations designed to count the impact that short-term vacation rentals have on local communities;
“The short-term rental regulations are primarily aimed at lodging in residential apartments,” Karstikko said. “We operate multi-unit properties intended for business use, in identical or comparable environments to hotels. As we always operate in accordance with local laws and zoning, we do not have the risks often associated with hosting in residential apartments.”
There are other players out there with a similar hybrid proposition, such as Spain’s Ukio or Overmoon in the US. And each of these various platforms has a slightly different value proposition and target market in mind, but the general idea is the same: here’s somewhere nice to stay on flexible terms and it’s neither a hotel nor an apartment.
Bob W, for his part, doesn’t really have an “ideal” length of stay and caters for anything from a few nights to several months. Karstikko says more than half of its customers are private individuals, however about 40% are actually B2B bookings where a company rents an apartment for business travel or temporary accommodation for employees moving for work.
“Our typical B2B customers are next-generation companies such as scale-up technology companies, startups or from the creative industries,” said Karstikko.
Bob W co-founder and COO Sebastian Emberger with CEO Niko Karstikko Image credits: Bob W
Suite profit
What’s perhaps most interesting about the six-year-old company are its growth metrics. Karstikko says they’ve tripled their revenue in 2022 and tripled it again in 2023 — plus, the company is profitable.
“Despite tripling revenue in 2023, eight of our 10 markets (countries) were already highly profitable, with all markets combined already profitable.” Karstikko said.
Previously, Bob W raised around €31 million, and with another €40 million in the bank, the company is well-funded to continue expanding to more cities across Europe — and in the long term, perhaps beyond.
“We continue to enter new strategic markets within urban centers across Europe, with our most recent launches in Copenhagen and Amsterdam.” Karstikko said. “Also, we are intensifying our presence in the existing markets. While our current focus remains on Europe, there will be a point where we start looking beyond Europe.”
Bob W’s Series B round was led Evli Growthwith participation from Ignition pointSupercell co-founder Mikko Kodisoja and Taavet+Sten — the investment vehicle launched in 2021 by Wise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus and Teleport co-founder Sten Tamkivi.
