Welcome To My Garden

What Welcome To My Garden does

Welcome To My Garden (WTMG) is a Belgian not-for-profit community marketplace founded in 2020 that connects non-motorized slow travellers—primarily cyclists and hikers—with citizens offering free overnight camping in their private gardens. The platform operates as a two-sided network where hosts register gardens on an interactive map and travellers request stays through an integrated chat system, deliberately eliminating any financial exchange between parties in favour of community reciprocity. By 2024 the platform listed over 8,500 gardens across Belgium and broader Europe and had facilitated more than 125,000 stay requests.

The technical product comprises a web platform with native iOS and Android applications, built on Firebase for authentication and data, Stripe for payments and SendGrid for email, with the source code released under an open-source licence. Core features include a geolocation-based garden map, GPX file route planning and saving, a stay request chat system with mobile push notifications, live location tracking, and a members-only community space. The company has extended its product surface to include the Slow Travel Pass (curated trip itineraries launched January 2024), the annual Velotour Festival (a three-day cycling event that drew 150 participants in 2024), and the Women Don't Cycle documentary (120+ global screenings).

WTMG operates under the legal entity Slowby, a Belgian social enterprise (BE 0784.423.261) headquartered in Jette, Brussels, and is fully bootstrapped with no institutional investors. Revenue is generated primarily through annual membership subscriptions—€36 minimum, €60 standard and €120 solidarity tiers—required for travellers to send stay requests, supplemented by merchandise sales of branded wooden garden signs at €20 each and Slow Travel Pass pre-orders. The founding team of Dries, Manon and Thor leads a small contributor network, and the company has stated it requires at least 3,000 paying members for financial self-sufficiency, a threshold it surpassed in 2024 with 4,500+ members.

Name

Welcome To My Garden

Legal name

Welcome To My Garden (a not-for-profit project under the legal entity of Slowby, a social enterprise)

Website

https://welcometomygarden.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Welcome To My Garden is a Belgian not-for-profit community marketplace connecting slow travellers (cyclists and hikers) with garden hosts offering free overnight camping across Europe, sustained by annual membership subscriptions and merchandise sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Travel Accommodation Marketplace

NAICS

RV (Recreational Vehicle) Parks and Campgrounds (721211)

SIC

Hotels, Rooming Houses, Camps & Other Lodging Places (7000)

akta.pro primary industry

Traditional Campgrounds (Tent & Mixed-Use) (THAMAJAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Eco/Nature-Based Campgrounds (Sustainable/Off-Grid) (THAMAJAK), Seasonal & Pop-Up Campsites (Event/Harvest/Temporary) (THAGAOAH)

Keywords

• Slow travel network
• Community camping platform
• Garden accommodation network
• Cycling hiking accommodation
• Free camping community

Headquarters

HQ city

Jette

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Annual Membership Fees: WTMG relies on a yearly membership model to split operational costs fairly among slow travellers. Hosts can stay on the free tier. Memberships are mandatory for slow travellers who want to send stay requests. Memberships renew automatically annually unless cancelled.
2. Superfan Contributions: An elevated membership tier at €60/year for passionate supporters who want to contribute more to WTMG's mission and growth. Includes all standard Member benefits.
3. Merchandise (WTMG Signs): Sale of branded wooden WTMG signs (€20 each, excluding shipping) to hosts who want to display their participation in the network. Available for home delivery (Belgium only) or pick-up at points in Belgium, France, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Spain & Portugal.
4. Slowby Side-Business Cross-Funding: Prior to membership model launch, operational costs were partially funded through Slowby trip planning income (approximately €30,000). This was unsustainable alongside full-time WTMG operations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Welcome To My Garden (WTMG) operates a community-driven online platform and mobile apps that connect non-motorized slow travellers (cyclists and hikers) with private citizens who offer free overnight camping spots in their gardens. The platform features an interactive map of 8,500+ garden hosts across Europe, a stay-request messaging system, GPX route planning, and live location tracking. Membership is required for travellers to send stay requests and is sold on trust-based annual tiers (€36/€60/€120 per year), while hosts participate for free.

Product overview

Welcome To My Garden operates as a community marketplace platform connecting slow travellers (cyclists and hikers) with garden hosts offering free overnight camping. The core WTMG Platform is complemented by native iOS and Android mobile apps, a Route Planner tool for planning cycling and hiking routes, and the Slow Travel Pass offering curated trip itineraries. The platform sustains operations through a membership programme with Free, Member (€36/year), and Superfan (€60/year) tiers. Supporting initiatives include the Velotour Festival (annual cycling event), the Women Don't Cycle documentary, and branded WTMG Sign merchandise. The WTMG Community Space provides a forum for member interaction.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Velotour Festival: A three-day bicycle touring festival gathering around 150 cyclists from Belgium and beyond. Participants can choose routes of 40km, 60km, or 80km daily, and camp together in the evenings.
• Slow Travel Pass
• Women Don't Cycle (Film)

Products and services

• Welcome To My Garden Platform Core web-based community marketplace platform connecting slow travellers (cyclists and hikers) with garden hosts offering free overnight camping. Users can explore an interactive map of 8,500+ gardens, browse hosts, send stay requests, and communicate through an integrated chat system.
• WTMG Mobile App Native mobile application for iOS and Android enabling slow travellers and hosts to access the WTMG platform on the go. Supports garden browsing, host communication, real-time push notifications for stay requests, and live location viewing on the map.
• WTMG Membership Programme Annual subscription programme required for slow travellers to send stay requests to hosts. Offers four trust-based tiers — Free (hosting and map browsing only), Member at €36/year, Superfan at €60/year, and Solidarity at €120/year — with members gaining full platform access including route uploads, garden saving, rail network access, and community space.
• Slow Travel Pass Curated slow travel trip plans and itineraries offered as a paid product, built from manually planned trips created for over 600 slow travellers. Preorders opened in January 2024.
• WTMG Wooden Sign

Quantifiable outcome

• 8,500+ gardens registered and 125,000+ stay requests sent since 2020 launch
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SlowbycoreOthersSlowby is the social enterprise that serves as the legal entity for Welcome To My Garden. It was founded by Dries and Manon and is incorporated in Belgium (BE 0784.423.261). Slowby also operated a side business planning slow travel trips, which partially funded WTMG operations before the membership model was introduced.
• Grote Routepaden vzwminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEarly financial supporter and early believer in WTMG. Grote Routepaden is a Belgian organisation focused on long-distance walking and cycling routes, aligning with WTMG's slow travel mission.
• GR SentiersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEarly financial supporter and early believer in WTMG. GR Sentiers is a French-speaking Belgian organisation managing long-distance walking routes.
• NatuurpuntminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEarly financial supporter and early believer in WTMG. Natuurpunt is a Belgian nature conservation organisation whose values align with slow travel and environmental stewardship.
• Wikimedia BelgiumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFinancial supporter of WTMG's mission. Wikimedia Belgium supports open knowledge and open source initiatives, aligning with WTMG's open-source ethos.
• Open Knowledge BelgiumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWhere co-founder Dries previously worked. Open Knowledge Belgium is aligned with WTMG through shared values around open data and open source.
• Bisiklet Festival (Turkey)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInspiration source for the Velotour Festival. The Bisiklet Festival in Turkey is a 3-day cycling festival with 100+ cyclists. Dries and Manon met one of its organisers during their Brussels-to-Tokyo trip in 2019 and were inspired to create a similar festival in Belgium.
• Firebase (Google)coreTechnology or IntegrationFirebase is used for user authentication and data storage on the WTMG platform. It is certified under major privacy and security standards and is GDPR compliant.
• StripecoreTechnology or IntegrationStripe handles payment processing for WTMG membership fees and Superfan contributions. It is certified under major privacy and security standards and is GDPR compliant.
• SendGrid (Twilio)coreTechnology or IntegrationSendGrid handles email communications for WTMG, including notifications, newsletters, and support communications. It is certified under major privacy and security standards and is GDPR compliant.
• Slow Travel PassminorOthersA separate initiative from the WTMG team to make curated slow travel trip plans available to more people. Manually created for 600+ travellers; now offered as a preorder product.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Workaway: A platform connecting travellers with hosts in exchange for a few hours of work per day. Related in offering community-driven stays on private property but adds a work-exchange dimension absent from WTMG.
• Hipcamp: A marketplace for camping on private land, including private gardens and farms. Differs by being paid/commercial, but addresses the same demand for non-hotel outdoor overnight stays via a network of private hosts.
• Trust Roots: An alternative hospitality and ridesharing community particularly popular among hitchhikers, cyclists and slow travellers. Closely aligned with WTMG's target persona and use case.

Broad incumbents

• Couchsurfing: The largest free, community-based hospitality exchange platform, allowing travellers to stay with locals worldwide. It serves a broader audience than WTMG but competes for the same use case of free, trust-based stays with citizens.
• Servas: An international peace-oriented hospitality organisation enabling travellers to stay with vetted host families. Operates a similar free, trust-based model but with stricter membership vetting and broader geographic remit.

Regional players

• Campspace: A Dutch-founded online marketplace for private-land camping across Europe, including gardens and small campsites. Closely comparable to WTMG's garden-stay model but commercial and geographically anchored in the Netherlands/Benelux.
• Natuurhuisje: A Dutch/European platform for booking nature-based accommodation including cabins, tents and unique rural stays. Adjacent comparator for WTMG's eco/slow travel positioning, though commercial and accommodation-only.
• BoerenBed: A Dutch platform offering overnight stays on farms and rural properties. Overlaps with WTMG in providing outdoor overnight stays on private land, with strong Benelux presence but commercial pricing.

Direct peers

• Warmshowers: A global hospitality exchange community specifically for long-distance cyclists and touring motorcyclists. It is the closest direct peer to WTMG, sharing the free, trust-based, community-driven hosting model for slow/cyclist travellers.
• BeWelcome: An open-source, non-profit hospitality exchange network similar in ethos to WTMG, offering free accommodation between members worldwide. Shares WTMG's community-led, open-source principles.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@welcometomygarden
• Facebookfacebook.com/Welcome2mygarden
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/welcometomygarden
• Instagraminstagram.com/welcometomygarden_org

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Welcome To My Garden