9flats
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Comment: The references suggest that this organization might be notable enough for a Wikipedia article (see Wikipedia guidelines for notability), but it is written like an advertisement. Please refer to writing better articles to improve this entry. Thanks! StandardSwan (talk) 01:32, 22 March 2012 (UTC)
Introduction
9flats is a peer-to-peer property rental company for private accommodation. Through the website, 9flats.com, travellers can book to stay other people’s properties[1], and homeowners can earn money renting out a spare room, flat or house[2].
Launched by German internet entrepreneur Stephan Uhrenbacher – founder of Qype and former head of northern European operations for lastminute.com – the site is a European competitor to the US-based Airbnb[3].
History
The founders secured funding from venture capital fund E-Venture (CityDeal/Groupon) and launched 9flats.com in February 2011[2] with an inventory of 5,000 places[4] , and the slogan 'Stop being a tourist'[5]. The company was initially based in nine different locations around the world[6], before finding a home in Berlin and offices in Hamburg and Valencia[2].
In May 2011, 9flats secured another round of investment from venture capital funds Redpoint Ventures (HomeAway), ProFounder (ex-lastminute.com) and Greycroft Partners, bringing the total funding to $10m[7]. In January 2012, 9flats announced that it completed a major round of funding led by , the venture capital arm of Deutsche Telekom AG. This round also included Redpoint Ventures and E-Venture Capital Partners (Hamburg)[8].
In March 2012, 9flats had over 50,000 members and 30,000 hosts[9] in over 104 countries[10], offering short-term stays in a range of accommodation types, "from a luxury apartment in the centre of a city, to a treehouse in a forest"[11].
Pascal Bordat, 9flats France spokesperson, has predicted that the company will handle a turnover of €200 million in the next five years[12].
Business model
The website uses a collaborative consumption model[13] to allow travellers to pay to stay in other people’s private accommodation instead of hotels, hostels or holiday apartments. The site connects guests with people who want to rent out a spare room, flat or holiday home. Guests search for places to stay online at 9flats.com, or through a telephone booking service. They then book and pay, and hosts receive payment through 9flats, minus a service fee[9].
External links
9flats.com Official site
How it works video
References
- ^ Andrew, Couts. "Travel hotel-free by finding unique lodging online". Digital Trends. Digital Trends. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
- ^ a b c Solon, Olivia (17 May 2011). "9flats launches in UK, lets you rent your spare room to the web". wired.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
- ^ Palmer, Maija (28 October 2011). "Berlin emerges as technology challenger". Financial Times. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
- ^ Seiderer, Sophia (16 March 2012). "Schlafplatzvermittlung im Internet: Von Sofa bis Penthouse". Die Welt. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
- ^ Hirzel, Joachim. "Die XL-Pläne der Wohn-Revoluzzer..." Focus Wirtschaft (Business). Focus Magazine. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
- ^ Uhrenbacher, Stephan. "9flats.com". Stephan Uhrenbacher blog. Stephan Uhrenbacher. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
- ^ Bradshaw, Tim (31 May 2011). "Airbnb moves 'aggressively' into Europe". Financial Times. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
- ^ Bernau, Varinia (12 January 2012). "Was die Telekom mit Groupon und 9flats vorhat". Süddeutsche Zeitung. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
- ^ a b "Be a host". 9flats. 9flats.com. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
{{cite web}}:|first=missing|last=(help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Hall, Max (11 January 2012). "9flats gets multi-million Deutsche Telekom funding". www.venturevillage.eu. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
- ^ "9flats.com. The alternative to hotels". YouTube. 9flats.com.
{{cite web}}:|first=missing|last=(help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "9Flats.com prevé alcanzar una facturación de 200 millones en cinco años". Expansion technology. Expansion. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
- ^ Tunguz, Tomasz. "How 'Collaborative Consumption' Is Transforming Startups". Huffington Post Business. www.huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 3 March 2012.