Wimdu
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Wimdu was a Berlin-based vacation rental marketplace founded in 2011 out of the Rocket Internet startup factory - an Airbnb clone dubbed the 'Airbnb killer' and Europe's most well-funded Airbnb copycat. It raised more than $90 million, primarily from Rocket Internet and AB Kinnevik, and scaled to about 350,000 properties on its books and 400 employees at its peak.
02 / Wimdu FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
Wimdu never got close to market domination despite a huge war chest. It played copycat to Airbnb for too long, never developing a distinctive company or service, and suffered from crazy growth expectations that came with its hefty initial capital. It changed hands repeatedly - merging with rival 9flats, then being acquired by Novasol (Wyndham Worldwide's European vacation rentals unit) in early 2017, then falling to Platinum Equity in the $1.3 billion Wyndham portfolio sale in early 2018. Platinum Equity pulled the plug, and in September 2018 Wimdu announced it would shut down by year-end, citing 'significant financial and business challenges', affecting about 100 employees in Berlin and Lisbon.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Company founded
Wimdu was founded.
- Operations ended
Wimdu ended operations.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
In 2011, Wimdu was founded in Berlin out of the Rocket Internet startup factory as an Airbnb clone, raising more than $90 million from Rocket Internet and AB Kinnevik.
- 02
The company scaled rapidly to 400 employees and about 350,000 listed properties, but never came close to Airbnb's market position.
- 03
Wimdu merged with rival 9flats, and in early 2017 was acquired by Novasol, a Danish vacation-home marketer owned by Wyndham Worldwide.
- 04
In early 2018, Wyndham sold its European vacation rental business to Platinum Equity for about $1.3 billion.
- 05
In September 2018, Wimdu announced it would shut down by year-end, citing 'significant financial and business challenges'; bookings were honoured through December 31, 2018.