At $31B, Airbnb now second most valuable private company behind Uber
After raising an additional $1 billion in a financing round that began last summer, Airbnb, the short-term stay rental company, is now listed as the second most valuable private company in the United States, following Uber, the ride-hailing business, as the New York Times reported. Airbnb, based in San Francisco, has raised more than $3 billion and secured a $1 billion line of credit since the company was founded in 2008. It is now worth nearly $31 billion dollars.
While Airbnb could potentially make for a successful Initial Public Offering candidate, the start-up remains profitable without offering stock to the public. CEO Brian Chesky said in an interview in November that he had no immediate plans to make the company open to a public offering.
“I think companies should go public when it’s the best thing for the mission, but we don’t have those immediate needs,” Chesky said.
Recently, Airbnb decided to use its billions to invest in three different start-ups. The company bought Tilt, a payments startup, Luxury Retreat, a vacation rental manager, and Resy, a restaurant reservation app. This, along with Airbnb’s expanding reach (it has three million listings in over 65,000 cities) adds to the hotel industry’s growing concern over the competition Airbnb brings to the hospitality industry. According to Bloomberg Technology, Airbnb may focus on listing long-term rentals on their website as well, becoming a full-service travel agency.
[Via NY Times]
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