Airbnb secures deal to provide Olympic accommodation November 18, 2019 Holiday home rental company Airbnb has agreed a deal to become an Olympic partner, in a bid to reduce the cost of the games. Airbnb hosts will provide accommodation for athletes and Olympic officials as well as visiting fans at the Tokyo games next year, followed by Beijing, Paris, Milan and Los Angeles. Read more: [...]
Airbnb has promised to verify all of its properties – 11 years after it was founded November 6, 2019 Airbnb has said it will verify all properties on its website, after an investigation uncovered a series of scam listings. Last month, Vice News revealed a string of false or misleading rental properties posted on the platform. The tech company said it would review every property by December next year. It also said it would [...]
Airbnb hires Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to lead stock market listing October 3, 2019 Airbnb is reportedly preparing to hire Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to advise on its planned stock market debut next year. The short-term rental company is considering going public through a direct listing rather than an initial public offering (IPO) in mid-2020, according to Reuters. Read more: Airbnb plots direct listing instead of traditional IPO [...]
Airbnb ‘plots direct listing’ instead of traditional IPO for hotly-anticipated float October 1, 2019 Airbnb is said to be shunning a traditional initial public offering (IPO) in favour of a less conventional direct listing when it floats on the public market next year. The San Francisco-based tech giant is currently making preparations for a listing that would not involve creating any new shares, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with [...]
Esure and Directline founder Sir Peter Wood leads insurance start-up funding round May 28, 2019 Esure and Directline founder Sir Peter Wood has led a £2.5m funding round in insurance start-up Pikl. Wood received £360m when he sold his stake in Esure to private equity firm Bain Capital last year. The serial entrepreneur also founded Directline in the 1980s, allowing customers to buy insurance over the phone, later selling his [...]
The future looks bright for university graduates May 21, 2019 This month, university students across the country are being tested on their chosen field of study. As if the exam season weren’t stressful enough, final-year students also have to deal with acute cases of so-called employability anxiety. This generation is already described as the “most anxious in history”, so adding extra stress makes for a [...]
Former Apple retail head Angela Ahrendts appointed to Airbnb’s board May 16, 2019 Airbnb has beefed up its board of directors with the appointment of Angela Ahrendts, former head of retail at Apple. Ahrendts, who is also a former chief executive of luxury fashion house Burberry, will become an independent board member alongside ex-American Express boss Ken Chenault and former Pixar finance chief Ann Mather. She resigned from Apple [...]
Your IPO can dazzle the stock market with the right communications strategy and PR spin April 16, 2019 The initial public offering (IPO) market is revving into gear, with consumer technology stars including Uber, Airbnb, and other Silicon Valley heavyweights planning to go public this year. However, these offerings all come in the controversial wake of ride-hailing app Lyft, which raised more than $2.3bn (£1.76bn) in a seriously – 20 times – oversubscribed [...]
Lyft IPO sets wheels in motion for Uber, Pinterest and Slack floats in coming months March 31, 2019 The runaway success of ride hailing app Lyft’s initial public offering (IPO) last Friday has paved the way for a long queue of tech firms all hoping to emulate its market debut in the coming months. On Lyft’s first day of trading its value soared 8.7 per cent, from an initial valuation of $72 (£55.20) [...]
Luxury rental property platform The Plum Guide to use £14m fundraise for rapid expansion March 21, 2019 High-end property rental platform The Plum Guide, which aims to eliminate disappointment from holiday bookings, has raised £14m in a Series B funding round led by Talis Capital as it prepares to launch in six more cities. The Plum Guide, which was set up in London in 2015, will be available in Barcelona, Berlin, Copenhagen, [...]