The company was founded in 2010 and launched in March 2011. Wimdu was registered as a limited company (
Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, GmbH) in March 2011.[8]
Arne Bleckwenn and Hinrich Dreiling, the founders of Wimdu, previously founded and managed several other startups.[9][10]
By May 2011, Wimdu was available in 11 languages.[16]
In May 2011, Wimdu launched a spin-off business for the
China market called Airizu.[17]
Shortly after the launch of Wimdu,
Airbnb publicity criticized the business model, writing
"A new type of scam has been brought to our attention: Airbnb clones posing as competition. We’ve discovered that these scam artists have a history of copying a website, aggressively poaching from their community, then attempting to sell the company back to the original."[18]
Airbnb considered acquiring Wimdu, but decided against it as Airbnb was uncomfortable with Wimdu's culture and tactics.[19][20][21]
By September 2011, the site was available in 16 languages and offered 25,000 lodging options in more than 100 countries.[22]
In December 2011,
WirtschaftsWoche rated Wimdu among the most important startups of 2011.[23]
By 2012, Wimdu claimed to be the biggest social accommodation website from Europe.[24] After the first year in business, Wimdu had
booking revenues of $6.6 million per month.[25][26]
In September 2012, due to rising costs, the company fundamentally changed its growth strategy. Activities of international offices were reduced and some employees moved back to the Berlin headquarters.[27][28]
In 2013, Wimdu closed its separate China subsidiary Airizu.[29]
Peer-to-peer property rental companies faced new regulatory requirements beginning in 2013 in Germany.[30]
Wimdu continued its operations in Berlin despite
9flats shutting down its Berlin offices.[31][32]
In October 2014, the founders Arne Bleckwenn and Hinrich Dreiling left their positions at Wimdu at their own requests, taking positions on the
advisory board.[35] The management was handed over to Arne Kahlke und Sören Kress,[36]
In November 2014, Wimdu expanded its activities at its Berlin headquarters.[37]
From 2013 to 2014, bookings on Wimdu increased by 31%.[38] In the first quarter of 2015, sales were up 34%.[39]
In February 2015, Italian conglomerate
Mediaset and Wimdu signed a
media for equity deal.[40] Mediaset invested "several million euros" in Wimdu and gave it advertising on the Mediaset TV channels.[41] The investment funded expansion[42][43] and by April 2012, Wimdu expanded in
Italy,
Spain and other
Southern European countries.[44]
In April 2016, Berlin adopted a law that restricted private apartment rentals.[45][46] Wimdu then filed a lawsuit against the law, arguing that the law illegally restricts the fundamental rights of hosts.[47][48][49]
In October 2016, the company announced a merger with
9flats.[50][51]
In October 2016,
9flats acquired the company.[52]
Rocket Internet, which is led by the Samwer brothers and was invested heavily in Wimdu, is renowned for its aggressive entrepreneurship and leadership style.[64][65]
Wimdu has been accused several times of being a clone of
Airbnb,[66][67][68] In response, representatives of the company stated that although the concept may seem similar, Wimdu has a unique approach, treating "different countries, different cultures, in different ways".[69] Wimdu offers a "hotel light" experience in a market where Airbnb has the "first mover advantage".[70] Airbnb and Wimdu are competitors, especially in
German-speaking Europe.[71]
In January 2016, Wimdu was accused of not assisting hosts with vandalism and Wimdu refused to compensate the owner of a Berlin apartment that had been destroyed, beyond offering a dedicated "insurance" for such damages.[72][73] Wimdu denied the allegations and pointed out that the host had demanded an "excessive refund" in this case.[74]Die Zeit invited experts to check the
standard form contract, which was deemed to be unsatisfactory.[75]
On 30 May 2016, a Dutch TV program, Groeten van Max, showed fake images used to advertise lodging. Wimdu refused to comment and expelled the inquirers from its offices.[76]
In April 2018,
Paris filed a lawsuit against Wimdu and Airbnb for allowing listings of lodging without specific registration numbers.[77]