US-based short-term accommodation marketplace Airbnb has raised $850m in a funding round co-led by internet and technology conglomerate Alphabet through its Google Capital unit, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.
The round was co-led with growth capital firm Technology Crossover Ventures and values Airbnb at $30bn, according to people close to the deal.
About $200m of Airbnb employee stock was sold as part of the transaction, but at a valuation mirroring the $25.5bn at which the company raised money last year. Airbnb may accept additional funding as part of the round, two people familiar with the matter told the WSJ.
Founded in 2008, Airbnb operates a platform enabling people to offer their houses and apartments to others for short-term stays. It is now present in some 34,000 cities across the world and has around two million listings in total.
Airbnb explicitly went after new investors in the round which would be able to help it grow and asked existing backers not to take part, two people told the WSJ.
The company reportedly turned down funding from prospective investors including two mutual funds at a $34bn valuation in June this year, opting instead for $1bn in debt financing from JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley.
Airbnb has now raised about $3.25bn in equity funding altogether, having closed a $1.5bn round in June 2015 featuring General Atlantic, Hillhouse Capital, Tiger Global Management, Temasek, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, GGV Capital, China Broadband Capital, Horizon Ventures, Wellington Management, Baillie Gifford, T. Rowe Price and Fidelity Investment.
Other existing backers include Firstmark Capital, Sequoia Capital, TPG, Dragoneer Investment Group, CrunchFund, DST Global, Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst Partners and SV Angel.
The $30bn valuation makes Airbnb the world’s fourth most valuable venture capital-backed company, behind ride hailing services Uber and Didi Chuxing, and smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi.
The new round of funding will alleviate any pressure for Airbnb to go public in 2017, and the company is reportedly waiting for the dust so settle on regulatory issues concerning safety and taxes before making the leap.