”Join us on a journey through the remarkable moments that shaped StayingBee's first year! From building a thriving community of travelers to forging meaningful partnerships, discover how we've turned a simple idea into a global platform that makes travel safer, more affordable, and filled with connections. Let’s relive the highlights and get excited for what 2026 has in store!”
As we enter 2026, we’re reflecting on what we built over the past year and the moments that defined us in 2025.
Our first year has been a mix of trial-and-error teachings, major milestones, small wins, significant partnerships, and customer success stories.
More importantly, this past year has been about building something we truly care about, a platform that delivers what it promises: safe, affordable, and meaningful travel experiences.
Let’s look back on StayingBee’s first year together through our most memorable moments.
Our hive began with four founders and one vision: to make travel safer and more affordable by building on existing communities. What started as an idea on Kelvin’s balcony in Helsinki has quickly grown into something much bigger.
That early idea has grown into a global hive of over 9,000 users across 130+ countries, with nearly 200 nights booked through the platform. Our community growth has also kept a similar pace—we’ve launched 9 new communities with more on the way.
These numbers are more than growth; they are proof that our model works and our vision is shared with like-minded individuals across the world.
In 2025, StayingBee moved from pilot phase to full v2 platform launch, including an updated website, new features, and the release of our mobile app.
Every design choice for our products was driven by one goal: creating an experience that feels simple, intuitive and genuinely useful to our members.
Trust and safety are fundamental to our mission as an accommodation-sharing platform, and we’re fully committed to implementing features and policies that deliver that promise to the hive.
We welcomed Lucas Elliott as our Trust & Safety Lead to implement Safety by Design standards across StayingBee. Trust isn’t just a buzzword here; it’s integral to our platform and to our communities.
As StayingBee grew throughout 2025, so did the people who believed in what we’re doing. From partners to advisors to investors, our growth has been inspired by people who share and support our vision.
We officially partnered with AIESEC International and CEMS Global Alliance in Management Education—organizations that share our belief in community and cultural exchange.
Together, we’re connecting millions of students, alumni and young professionals worldwide to safer, more affordable stays within their communities. Just what StayingBee was built for!
This year, we were also joined by 12 Advisory Board members to help guide our journey. Their insights, experience and feedback have been crucial in developing our company with clarity and purpose.
Their belief in what we’re building gave us the momentum to stay focused and make StayingBee what it is today and beyond.
With the support of our community, angel investors and Business Finland, we’ve secured funding to continue developing our platform, improve user experience, and expand into new regions.
These investments are more than capital, they represent trust in our vision and support for safer, affordable and more human travel.
2025 gave us a lot to smile about. From the incredible places our users explored with our platform, to the memorable stays and the moments of real connection, this year was full of stories that reminded us of why we do what we do.
Nothing made our work more meaningful than seeing people engage with StayingBee in real-time and experience exactly what we hoped they would: discovery, connection, and a sense of belonging.
Kelvin, our CEO, pushed StayingBee to the max with his challenge: 2 weeks, 5 cities across Europe, and an accommodation budget of just 295 euros.
With StayingBee, he explored Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Bucharest and Madrid, connected with like-minded community members, experienced Europe like a local and stayed well within budget.
Kelvin’s experiment was designed to test StayingBee’s limits—and it passed with flying colours.
Alex documented his first StayingBee experience with a video straight from the streets of Paris.
He was amazed at how seamless the booking process was and how welcoming his host proved to be. In fact, he actually met his host previously—12 years ago at a conference. Proof that some connections stand the test of time.
Overall, using StayingBee was like discovering a hidden gem within a city already sparkling with them.
Feedback from our hosts showed just how special StayingBee is.
Belgium-based Jibola and Sarah shared a memorable evening hosting AIESECers from Hong Kong. They bonded over their shared AIESEC experiences, realizing just how global their network had become. By the end of the stay, it felt less like hosting strangers and more like welcoming old friends.
Nicolas had a similar hosting experience when he opened his doors to Frank, a fellow founder. Together they exercised, attended Helsinki’s SLUSH event, and exchanged ideas. A simple stay became an opportunity to network with purpose within their community.
Seeing positive feedback, photos of members genuinely enjoying themselves, and hosts and guests spending quality time together reaffirms our mission: to connect communities in ways that make travel about more than just a night’s sleep.
Although we’ve spent much of the year buzzing, we also made time to slow down and celebrate what we’ve built.
Midway through the year, our co-founders met up in Helsinki for a quick retreat. It was a chance to step back from the day-to-day grind, reconnect, and remember why we built StayingBee in the first place.
To close out the year, our team came together virtually for our End-of-Year Town Hall. We reflected on how far we’ve come, our future plans, and paused to acknowledge who and what we’re most grateful for.
It was also a moment to celebrate our growing team of 14 BeeKeepers and interns.
Every day, StayingBee is shaped and improved by people who believe in the vision, care deeply about the platform and are committed to making travel safer, more affordable, and more human.
When you build for community, community builds with you.
2025 showed us the power of connection and how important it is in every part of our lives, from home to work to travel. This year, our users experienced unforgettable stays, formed new friendships, and shared adventures with people they might never have met otherwise.
We’re grateful to all of our users, our hosts, partners and team for believing in our vision and helping us create the platform of our dreams.
We can’t wait to see what 2026 has in store—for us and our hive.
