Vagabundo Living: innovation meets sustainability

An MCI alumni company redefines living space

Three years ago, we had the pleasure of interviewing Andreas Müllner, a graduate of the MCI master's program in International Business & Management. Together with two close friends, he founded the start-up Vagabundo Living, which has since developed into a successful company.

Vagabundo Living was founded in December 2020. After intensive prototype development and construction work in 2021 and 2022, the first show home, the Vagabundo Flex, was presented in the picturesque English Garden in Munich in October.

What is particularly remarkable about this start-up is the fact that it was completely self-financed. Despite a lack of marketing expenditure, the company was able to build up a large fan base. This was achieved thanks to a clever guerrilla strategy that focussed primarily on social media. The polarizing topic of housing and the associated costs provided the ideal starting point for this.

Vagabundo Living's target group is broadly diversified. In addition to traditional B2C customers who want to use the tiny houses as a rent-free retirement home, minimalist alternative to their own home or holiday home, there are also numerous B2B applications. The flexible living solutions are particularly popular in event and trade fair construction as well as in the hotel industry.

Vagabundo Living's mission is to create sustainable and affordable living space without compromising on comfort. The vision: to design long-lasting living concepts with innovative interior design - for resource-saving living that counteracts climate change.

By networking on LinkedIn and approaching well-known partner companies such as Thonet, Kaldewei and Bora, Vagabundo Living was able to gain strong partners. These not only provided support by supplying products for the show home, but also in terms of communication.

Founding the company was certainly a challenge, but the Vagabundo Living team has managed to create its own USP. With its modern design, Made in Germany quality and the first flexible two-storey tiny house including an electric spindle lifting system, the Vagabundo Flex is an ideal show home.

Andreas Müllner looks back positively on his time at MCI: "During my time at MCI, I was often thrown in at the deep end and had to be creative and courageous to present my ideas to the group. The education at MCI not only gave me the necessary expertise, but also the self-confidence and entrepreneurial mindset required to found a start-up. It has inspired me to think outside the box and find innovative solutions to current problems. This 'Just Do It' mindset as well as the encouragement to realize dreams were certainly big takeaways from my studies in Innsbruck. Who knows if I would have ever founded my own company otherwise? I can only tell everyone to just do it, you make mistakes and you don't learn anything without them."

The MCI is looking forward to the further development of Vagabundo Living.