You may be wondering, who is this dude Bob? 

Many have heard of him but few have met him. He’s a globetrotter who feels at home anywhere. A month rehabilitating sea turtles in Australia, a weekend learning how to cook the perfect paella in Valencia. “Bob? You just missed him. He was here last night,” says a bartender in Beirut. 

Bob’s got connections in every city and always knows the best places to stay. When he’s in one place long enough, he also loves to host. And those who have been lucky enough to stay with Bob know that he is a truly epic host.

Bob makes it look easy, but the truth is that finding great accommodation can be a pain in the ass. Sorting through thousands of random private rentals is like playing Russian roulette. Staying in a tiny, generic hotel room can be a total mood-killer. 

After being asked for the ten-thousandth time, “Bob, how do you find these amazing places to stay?” he decided to do something to help us common folk. In 2018, Bob enlisted the help of two of his friends – Niko Karstikko and Sebastian Emberger – to create short-stay apartments worthy of his name. 

These apartments had to combine the reliability and services of a hotel with the practicality and flair of private rentals. They needed prime locations in handpicked neighbourhoods, filled with furniture and design from local artists inside. They needed to be environmentally friendly and feel like home for a night or a month (or two). It was a tall order, but Bob, Niko and Sebastian were game.

Inspired by the legend himself, Bob W was born.

‍Bob W today

Our exceptionally cool short-stay apartments are the smarter, more sustainable alternative to hotels and random rentals. Backed by Europe's top venture capitalists, family offices and entrepreneurs including byFounders, IDC Ventures, Elevator Ventures, Verve Ventures, Flashpoint, Superangel, NREP, Tesi, Wolt cofounder Miki Kuusi and Supercell cofounder Ilkka Paananen, we’re building the autonomous hospitality technology to give every guest a local, contactless, five-star experience at scale. Bob W apartments are available in across Europe, and we're expanding to new markets all the time.

‍Timeline

2012  

Niko becomes an Airbnb Superhost with a few apartments in Helsinki, Finland.

2018   

Niko and Sebastian co-found Bob W.

First location opens in the Punavuori district of Helsinki.

2019  

Apartments in Tallinn’s Telliskivi district open.

Team grows to 5 people.‍

2020  

Team grows to 25 people.

Launches “hospitality engine” tech to scale internationally.

2021  

Bob W becomes the first international climate-neutral hospitality provider.

€10M in funding secured.

Helsinki City Centre opens doors.

Team grows to 35 people and counting.

Madrid Chueca opens doors September 2021.

2022

First two properties in the UK open in London.

Additional properties open in Helsinki, Madrid and Tallinn.

Bob W expands to Tartu, Estonia and Florence, Italy.

Team grows to 90 people and counting.

Bob W acquires Estonishing Stay in Estonia and KOTI Hotel in Finland.

21€M in A round funding secured.

2023

Open first West London property in Paddington.

Expand to Oslo, Norway.

Bob W acquires Charly Hospitality in Germany and expands to Berlin, Bonn, Lübeck, Freising (Munich), Cologne, and Amsterdam.

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