From cash-strapped roommates to Airbnb billionaires
From cash-strapped roommates to Airbnb billionaires
AFP • July 3, 2018
San Francisco (AFP) - A decade ago a pair of San
Francisco roommates decided to make rent money by using air mattresses to turn
their place into a bed-and-breakfast when a conference in the city made hotel
rooms scarce.
The brainwave led to the creation of Airbnb, a startup
now valued at more than $30 billion which boasts millions of places to stay in
more than 191 countries, from apartments and villas to castles and treehouses.
Here are some key facts about the sharing-economy star,
which has sent tremors through the hotel industry:
- Humble beginnings -
- In late 2007, with hotel rooms selling out due to a
design conference in San Francisco, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia decide to make
some extra money to help cover the rent in the apartment they share, by using
air mattresses to turn it into a bed-and-breakfast.
- A third former roommate of theirs, Nathan Blecharczyk,
teams with Chesky and Gebbia in a venture they call "Air Bed and
Breakfast," launching a website in August of 2008.
- Struggling to get the business off the ground, the
startup founders stage a quirky stunt at the Democratic National Convention in
late 2008, selling boxes of cereal custom-branded "Obama-O's" and
"Cap'n McCains" for $40 each -- raising enough money to stay afloat,
and earning much-needed publicity.
- The startup name is changed in March of 2009 to Airbnb
as it envisions being about more than sleeping on air mattresses.
- In April of 2009 Airbnb gets $600,000 in seed funding
from Sequoia Capital after a string of rejections from other venture
capitalists.
- Disrupting an industry -
- In 2011, Airbnb boasts of being in 89 countries and of
booking more than a million nights' lodgings. The startup becomes a Silicon
Valley "unicorn" valued at a billion dollars based on some $112
million pumped into it by venture capitalists.
- In June of 2012, Airbnb announces that more than 10
million nights of lodging have been booked on its service, with some
three-quarters of that business coming from outside the US.
- In 2012, Airbnb is hit with the problem of some guests
leaving homes in dismal condition due to parties or other raucous activities.
The startup puts in place a million-dollar damage coverage policy as a
"Host Guarantee."
- In September of 2016, Airbnb raises funding in a round
that values the company at $30 billion.
- In November of 2016, Airbnb launches Trips, tools that
tourists can use to book local offerings or happenings.
- Growth, and backlash -
- Airbnb begins facing trouble as cities and landlords
crack down on "hosts" essentially turning homes into hotels.
- In late 2016, Airbnb implements policies aimed at
preventing racial discrimination by hosts and creates a permanent team aimed at
fighting bias, following growing complaints.
- In early 2017, Airbnb announces plans to double its
investment in China, triple its workforce there and change its name to
"Aibiying" in Chinese.
- In September of 2017, Airbnb teams with Resy, which
becomes a minority shareholder in the new venture, to offer table reservations
at 700 restaurants in 16 US cities.
- Airbnb is reported to have made a profit of $93 million
on $2.6 billion in revenue in the year 2017.
- In 2018, battling a global backlash against "sharing
economy" startups disrupting traditional industries, Airbnb is forced to
cancel thousands of reservations in Japan to comply with a new law regulating
short-term rentals.
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