Hospitality Giant Airbnb Books IPO Date For 2020

US-based multinational hospitality company Airbnb has announced its plans to become a publicly-listed company in 2020.

In a media statement, Airbnb said that the statement is being made pursuant to, and in accordance with, Rule 135 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and shall not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities.

Airbnb was founded in 2008 by Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia and Nathan Blecharczyk. Airbnb’s accommodation marketplace provides access to 7 Mn unique places to stay in more than 100K cities and 191 countries and regions.

Since its entry in India in 2016, Airbnb has amassed about 45K listings in India, with Goa as the company’s most popular market with 6,000 listings. The company’s business in India has doubled in terms of guests year-on-year, and so far 1.8 Mn Indians have used Airbnb since its launch.

It had recently introduced Airbnb ‘Plus Homes’ in India, featuring homes that have high ratings. Airbnb’s Plus Homes is currently available across 41 global cities. Last year in June, Airbnb within its Trips category launched ‘Experiences’ that offers travellers to explore unique destinations by offering handcrafted activities powered by locals

For the financial year ended March 2018, Airbnb India reported a revenue of about $4.95 Mn (INR 35 Cr). Airbnb cofounder and chief strategy officer Nathan Blecharczyk during the Global Business Summit in Delhi had said that Airbnb’s business in India doubled in terms of guests over the last two-and-a-half years, with 1.8 Mn Indians already using Airbnb.

Airbnb’s India Business Ahead Of IPO

Airbnb has seen a steady rise in popularity in India — the number of listings went up 150% in the last year. The San Francisco-based accommodation and tourism company is eager to tap into the Indian market which has over 400 Mn millennials — higher than the entire population of the US.

Airbnb has also signed a strategic partnership with OYO and the two companies are looking to collaborate on multiple projects, one of them being Airbnb listing OYO’s properties on its platform. According to Inc42’s sources, OYO Homes will be listed on the Airbnb platform, which includes nearly 10K villas and apartments. It recently introduced Airbnb ‘Plus Homes’ in India, featuring homes that have high ratings.

In June, A survey released by Airbnb stated that the direct economic impact they had on India in 2018 was around $150 Mn (INR 1,035 crore). The total estimated guest spend in India for the year stood at $120 Mn, with guests spending about $61 per day (INR 4,168) of their stay on average.

The survey also found that around 42% of guest spending happened in the neighbourhood where the guests were staying. Hosts at Airbnb India welcomed a total of 800,000 guests over the year, with total earnings of around $120 Mn (INR 190 Cr). Globally, Airbnb had a direct economic impact of a cumulative $100 Bn across 30 countries.