Airbnb Scores $112 Million in Financing
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(Reuters) - Airbnb, a website that lets travelers rent rooms in private homes around the globe, has secured $112 million in a second round of financing from Andreessen Horowitz, DST Global and General Catalyst.
Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia said the new financing will help the company expand internationally and open new offices.
Gebbia and his roommate Brian Chesky founded Airbnb -- or "Air bed-and-breakfast" -- in 2008 after renting out air mattresses in their apartment to people attending a San Francisco design conference.
The three-year-old website, which garners 30 million page views a month, matches travelers looking to rent a temporary space -- from a room in a New York City apartment to a villa in France -- with homeowners looking to pad their earnings or fill a short-term vacancy.
Airbnb, which now has total funding of $119.8 million, offers listings in more than 16,000 cities in 186 countries.
"Growth has been flat-out explosive, with over 2 million room nights already booked," Andreessen Horowitz general partner Jeff Jordan said.
Venture capital investments are on the rebound. VC firms raised $2.7 billion in the second quarter, an increase of 28 percent from a year earlier, according to data from Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association.
But the fund-raising was spread across just 37 firms, continuing a trend of VC investment concentrating in a handful of more influential outfits such as Andreessen Horowitz.
The concentration on fewer start-ups is pushing up valuations, industry experts say.
During the 2010 second quarter, 48 firms raised $2.1 billion.
(Reporting by Edwin Chan; editing by John Wallace)
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.
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First Posted: 07/25/11 03:17 PM ET Updated: 09/24/11 06:12 AM ET