About FreewayCamper
Our vision is to become the #1 booking platform for an exceptional camping experience in Europe. Our goal is that all our customers at FreewayCamper are able to book a camper tailored to their journey, as well as complete camping travel packages, fully digital and in just a few steps. Currently, we are focused on digitizing and scaling the first step of the customer journey - renting campers.
Our product stands out with a high quality standard which includes new vehicles, already fully equipped with basic camping gear, and customizable with additionally bookable extras and services. Our customers rent a home on wheels and can start their vacation relaxed - whether they are camping newbies or experienced pros, we take care of the rest. With a wide selection of campers and motorhomes at soon-to-be 100 locations, especially in Germany and Italy, we offer the perfect solution for families, friends, couples, and solo travelers – including those with pets.
Our unique selling proposition (USP) and thus unique in the market is that we scale our product standard under the FreewayCamper brand not only at our own stations but also through our proven franchise partner concept. This drives the digitization of the entire camping market, integrating traditional motorhome rental companies as partners in the new digital environment and offering our customers the largest station network in Germany and Italy. With a perfect solution for the majority of motorhome rental companies, we offer the most scalable setup in the market.
Our teams of over 80 employees work passionately and with expertise every day to gradually implement our vision. We see the diversity of our team as the basis of our success: people of different nationalities, cultures, age groups, genders, personal and professional experiences work closely together in our four offices in Munich, Milan, Warsaw, Zagreb, and at one of our own 11 rental stations every day. Our company language is English.
Our Founders
Nikolai Voitiouk-Blum
CEO & Co-Founder
Nikolai brings extensive startup experience from 6.5 years at FlixBus. When Nikolai joined in September 2013, the mobility unicorn of today had just been on the road for half a year with 50 buses. Nikolai built the entire operational business for FlixBus and scaled it for the successful operation of 1,000+ buses. Subsequently, as VP Business East, Nikolai built the FlixBus business and the resulting market leadership in the CEE region.
Privately, Nikolai's passion lies in mountain sports – in winter, he spends most of his free time skiing or snowboarding, with a particular love for freeriding. Only when the snow conditions no longer allow it beyond 2000m altitude, Nikolai takes out his hiking boots and climbs the peaks on foot, but also enjoys doing so with a mountain bike. In general, whenever his time allows, you'll find him outdoors or on the road with his camper.
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Julia Blum
Co-Founder
Julia brings over 10 years of experience as an e-commerce expert from various industries and roles. After her time at the e-commerce giant OTTO, she established the first organic food online shop with 2000+ daily essentials products in Germany. Following the M&A of Jochen Schweizer mydays, Julia was responsible for various projects aimed at optimizing the product portfolios of both brands for results and brand enhancement.
Julia shares Nikolai's passion for the mountains with an equally strong affinity for the outdoors. She loves skiing – whether on or off-piste – but also enjoys heading out at 6 a.m. in the full moon with her touring skis to experience a breathtaking sunrise from the summit. In the summer, hiking and mountain biking are also her favorite activites, although downhill biking is (yet) not one of her greatest joys. Regular trips with her own camper, Inge, are also a staple of her leisure activities.
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How we work together
"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."
Our success and development are the result of strong collaboration among our teams, particularly the daily professional and personal dedication of each individual employee.
These are the cornerstones of our collaboration:
Responsibility & Trust
We work independently and with high degrees of freedom in our areas, coupled with significant autonomy, rapid development opportunities, and steep individual learning curves. Whether you're a night owl or a morning person, depending on the conditions of your department, you organize your working hours to best suit you. Results matter most to us!
Teamwork
Experience our great team spirit and familial work atmosphere – we work intensively across departments and countries, regularly enjoy small and large team events together, and benefit from our exchange of experiences and diverse international personalities.
Impact
We work in all teams with a focus on results. What you achieve every day – regardless of your role, task, or team – has a significant impact on our collective success, overall outcome, and the development of FreewayCamper. Together, we make our customers' most beautiful and valuable time an unforgettable experience with the aim of continuously expanding and improving our offerings.
We value the performance of each individual, and our approach is to make this impact visible within the company. Our motto here is: You can make a difference, every day! Your effort counts!
Growth
Since the beginning, we have promoted the professional and personal development of our employees and worked closely across all hierarchical levels. We value open dialogue and regular mutual feedback as the basis for the joint development of teams and our company.
How it started
It's summer 2019, and Julia and Nikolai, both outdoor and camping enthusiasts, are planning a camping trip and want to book it online, just like all their other trips.
While searching for a suitable rental camper and the desired pre-booking of campsites, they realize that the entire industry and processes surrounding booking a camping trip are hardly digitized.
"It took a lot of patience, phone calls, and back-and-forth emailing to understand which model is suitable for us as a family, what are the differences between the individual models, what equipment and services are included, and which are not," Julia recalls looking back. Eventually, Julia and Nikolai were able to book their holiday camper on time, but pre-booking campsites along their planned route through the Dolomites and the mountains of East Tyrol simply wasn't possible. "There has to be a better way!" the two thought, and this idea – expressed, discussed, and evaluated – laid the foundation for the business idea of FreewayCamper.
Absolutely convinced of the idea of digitizing the camping travel market and focusing on an extraordinary customer experience, Julia and Nikolai quit their jobs shortly thereafter and founded FreewayCamper in the same year.
