Airbnb confirms plans to go public in 2020

Airbnb has confirmed it plans to go public next year, ending a long period of speculation about when the disruptive accommodation platform would float on the stock exchange.

The company, which was valued at $31bn in its most recent funding round, said on Wednesday it made more than $1bn in revenue in the second quarter of 2019.

As of this month, Airbnb said its hosts had made more than $80bn from hosting guests in their homes.

Airbnb, which was founded in 2008, has come under fire in recent years for losing sight of its original premise of local hosts lending out spare rooms or beds.

In April it invested $100m in the fast growing Indian hotel chain Oyo and in March bought the hotel booking site HotelTonight, which was valued in its most recent funding round at $463m.

Airbnb has been expanding its footprint in a bid to convince investors of the sustainability of its growth as it faces greater competition in the home rental market from hotel brands such as Marriott and the online travel agents Booking and Expedia.

www.ft.com/content/cf865bb6-daea-11e9-8f9b-77216ebe1f17

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