UPDATED 19:36 EDT / JUNE 28 2016

NEWS

Report: Airbnb looking for raise more money 2 weeks after it took $1b in debt financing

Online accommodation marketplace Airbnb, Inc. is reported to be looking to raise even more money less than 2 weeks after it took $1 billion in debt financing.

According to The New York Times quoting people familiar with the matter, the new round would be raised on a $30 billion valuation, meaning Airbnb has tripled its valuation in just two years and would place it as the second highest valued startup in the United States behind Uber, Inc.

The amount the company is trying to raise was not disclosed but the money would be used to further expand it business, including funding growth overseas.

Airbnb declined to comment on the report.

The company has previously projected $900 million in revenue in 2015, and had predicted it would be profitable in 2016, while at the same time predicting, be it ambitiously, that they were projecting revenue of $10 billion in 2020 meaning it would need to increase its share of global lodging market from 1 percent to as much as 10 percent over the next five years in order to reach its goal.

While ambitious, Airbnb has reported some stellar growth figures, including a 700 percent increase in business from Chinese travelers as well as recently having expanded into Cuba.

Regulatory hurdles

News that Airbnb is seeking to raise more money comes at a time the company is fighting regulatory hurdles in a number of markets, in particular in its hometown of San Francisco where it is suing the city to prevent possible daily fines levied against it starting in July of up to $1,000 per unregistered listing on its platform per day.

That suit pertains to a law passed by the City of San Francisco that required all Airbnb hosts to be registered with the city, a law passed in 2014 that at the time was supported by Airbnb due to it providing a favorable alternative to hosts having to obtain similar licensing to that of a hotel.

The company also faces ongoing issues in New York City where 70 percent of all Airbnb rentals have been found illegal, primarily due to the fact that many hosts do not pay accommodation taxes.

Including the most recent round of debt financing, Airbnb has raised $3.39 billion to date; previous investors include SherpaCapital, TPG Growth, T. Rowe Price, Dragoneer Investment Group, Founders Fund, CrunchFund, Sequoia Capital, Ashton Kutcher, Andreessen Horowitz and others.

Image credit: Antonio Pérez/YouTube/CC by 2.0

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