The two founders of the Munich startup Limehome want to shake up the hotel industry with a completely digitized process. The company was founded in 2018 and already has 50 employees. That has already impressed some investors, who have invested several million euros in the startup. Customers are also responding positively to the service. Seven questions for the founders.
1. Who are you and what do you do? Please introduce yourself!
Limehome combines the quality standards of a hotel with the coziness and convenience of a stylish apartment. We’re leaders in the digitization of the hotel industry and are defining new standard of comfort, convenience and design. We don’t have a reception desk and rely on a completely digital customer journey. Our tech-DNA makes it possible for customers to check in 24/7. Our suites in top locations in German and Austrian cities can be booked for both short city tours and for longer business trips. Our dedicated team is also located at the heart of Munich.
Limehome wants to be the driver of the digital revolution in the hotel industry
The Limehome founders are Josef Vollmayr and Lars Stäbe. Josef studied business administration and statistics at LMU. After getting his doctorate at the University of Mannheim, he worked for McKinsey for five years. The main focus was on value creation, private equity and retail and consumer goods. Lars also studied business administration at the Technical University of Munich and went to the CDTM. After his studies, he first went to McKinsey, where he particularly helped shape digital strategies for several large corporations and also met Josef. After spending hundreds of nights in hotels as a consultant, it seemed to make sense to usher the industry into the 21st century with a clever idea.
2. But that’s nothing out of the box!
Bookable suites? Of course they exist! An attempt to digitize the hotel industry: Some have tried!
But not like this: We take on the entire value added chain, question every process and try to digitally automate every recurring process little by little with our operating system to be able to offer our guests the highest quality product for that price! With our scalable model, we will be the hotel with the most locations in Europe in five years.
3. What are the three main ingredients in your recipe for success?
- We’re putting our heart and soul into focusing on our guests with every decision we make and on offering the best value for money.
- We never lose sight of our vision of becoming the driver of the digital revolution in the hotel industry.
- We know our diverse team is the key to success and work on being a place our colleagues are proud of.
“We’re always fully booked”
4. Now let’s get down to the nitty-gritty: How is business going?
It’s going amazingly! We’re always fully booked and our rapid growth, extremely good unit economics and our team of fifty employees after just about a year are the best proof!
5. What does Munich mean to you?
Munich has been our home for a long time and is obviously a magnet for talented team members! The startup scene is growing rapidly here, but you can also easily go to the mountains or a lake on the weekend. Where else do you have that?
6. How will your startup become the next unicorn? Or will we be seeing you at an Epic Fail Night soon?
A unicorn, of course — with our team, an ambitious vision of growth and our passion, we have the potential to really tackle the market head-on.
7. Beer or Prosecco?
Our office refrigerator has a lot more to offer — but as a team we all for gin and tonic!