Angela Lang / CNET
Airbnb, the rental company, said Wednesday it filed for an IPO, a milestone for a Silicon Valley pioneer who ushered in the "sharing economy."
Founded in 2008, the company played a key role in spreading peer-to-peer rentals, where people would sell their homes, cars, or services to others through tech platforms. Uber and Lyft, other marquee players in the sharing economy, went public last year.
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In a blog post, Airbnb said the amount and price range of the shares on offer were "not yet set". The company declined to comment beyond its initial announcement.
The filing comes amid a brutal year for the travel industry amid the coronavirus pandemic. Airbnb, which at one point had a private value of $ 31 billion, was hit particularly hard when the global economy shut down and people canceled trips for protection.
In May, the company announced it had laid off 1,900 of its employees - a quarter of the company - one of the largest mass layoffs for a Silicon Valley company since the pandemic began. At the time, CEO Brian Chesky told employees that sales this year would be less than half of 2019 sales, which were reportedly $ 4.8 billion.
But the company's business appears to be improving as people start traveling again and look for private land rentals where they can avoid large groups of people. Last month, Airbnb said that rural US hosts made over $ 200 million this June, up more than 25% over the same period in 2019.
Founded by Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk and Joe Gebbia, the company quickly became a darling of the Silicon Valley startup scene. Airbnb began gaining popularity among consumers during the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, where people gathered to see then-candidate Barack Obama's historic nomination but couldn't find hotel rooms. The company eventually joined the elite club of startups known as the unicorns valued at $ 1 billion or more.
Like many of its peers in the sharing economy, Airbnb has conducted an audit for fighting regulators and promoting security controversy. Last year, the company announced it would review all of its listings and make further security improvements after five people were killed at a Halloween party at a California rental.
