Product details

Founded in 2008, by Nathan Blecharczyk, Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky in San Francisco, Airbnb, the popular home-sharing service had disrupted the decades-old Travel industry. Popularly known as the world's largest accommodation providers, Airbnb encouraged the large-scale conversion of residential units into tourist accommodations. The company was ranked as one of the most valuable privately owned start-ups in the world as of 2016. The short-term real estate marketplace raised around USD850 million in its latest round of funding (in 2016) and was valued at roughly USD30 billion in August 2016. Airbnb was planning to widen its global presence with the infusion of funds. Though analysts were sceptical about the exorbitant valuation of the mushrooming tech start-ups in general and Airbnb in particular, the new add-on services of the company such as the 'services on city tours' and 'restaurant reservations' might provide new opportunities to Airbnb to substantiate its soaring valuation. However, the company also received negative attention in the media for racism, ethical, safety, legal, privacy, and dynamic pricing issues among others. Amidst these issues, whether the company would sustain its growth momentum? Would Airbnb be able to justify its skyrocketing valuation through its innovative strategies?