A few weeks ago techcrunch broke the news that p2p accommodation startup Airbnb is in the final stages of closing a $100 million funding round which values the company at $1 billion. This comes after a phenomenal performance in 2010 with their service growing by 800% , booking more than 1.6 million rooms and securing $7.2 million in seed funding in December.
This is another piece of evidence that a new economy, driven by collaborative consumption, is on its way. And many people said that such a business model, could not, and would not work. Who would rent a bed out to complete strangers….? turns out lots of people would and do.
The future is not like the past. And we are glad about that here at rentoid.
Here is a presentation by one of the founders of Airbnb talking about how the company got started and the journey to where it is now - on the video inserted below:
Kudos to the guys at Airbnb.
PSFK CONFERENCE NYC 2011: Joe Gebbia from Piers Fawkes on Vimeo.
