Airbnb, the US-based short-term accommodation marketplace valued at $26bn as of April this year, confidentially filed for an initial public offering yesterday that could give internet technology group Alphabet the chance to exit.
Founded in 2008, Airbnb operates an online platform where users can list or rent rooms or entire homes for short periods while travelling. It has diversified into offering local activities and latterly online experiences, as Covid-19 lockdowns have dramatically reduced demand for accommodation on the platform.
The company has not revealed whether it has chosen a market for its shares. Reports in late 2019 indicated it was considering a direct listing where it would not issue any new shares, but the coronavirus-related downturn in its business makes that option less likely.
The IPO filing comes after Airbnb laid off approximately 25% of its employees in May this year. Private equity firm Silver Lake and investment firm Sixth Street Partners had supplied $1bn in debt and equity financing at a $26bn pre-money valuation weeks before.
Airbnb had received $202m from undisclosed investors in May 2019 and another $25.9m in September, according to securities filings.
Alphabet co-led the company’s $1bn series F round in 2017, through growth capital subsidiary CapitalG. The round, which valued it at $31bn, was co-led by growth equity firm TCV and pushed its overall funding to $3.4bn.
The company had secured $1.5bn from investment and financial services group Fidelity, Temasek, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, GGV Capital, China Broadband Capital, General Atlantic, Hillhouse Capital, Tiger Global Management, Horizon Ventures, Baillie Gifford, Wellington Management and T. Rowe Price two years earlier.
TPG, Sequoia Capital, General Catalyst, Tuesday Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Dragoneer Investment Group, DST Global, Founders Fund, Firstmark Capital, Y Combinator and SV Angel are among Airbnb’s earlier backers.
