Airbnb internal valuation drops 16% to $26bn
Apartment rental site Airbnb lowered its internal valuation compared to its latest funding round by 16% to reach $26bn.
It’s previous private valuation stood at $31bn after closing a $1bn funding round in September 2017, although according to the Financial Times the company could have been worth up to $40bn at the end of 2019.
The latest figures show the impact of the coronavirus on the business as tourists are forced to stay in lockdown in their homes.
Bookings on the site fell around 90% in the most severely hit markets, revealed data from AirDNA.
CEO Brian Chesky told staff of the most recent update late on Thursday, revealed the Financial Times.
Airbnb is said to be holding conversations with new and existing investors to consider a late-stage funding round.
The rental company is also spending $250m on reimbursing some of the money lost by hosts recently that had to refund guests with disrupted travel plans. It is doing so in an attempt to prevent hosts from leaving the platform.
A person familiar with the Airbnb’s finances said internal projections predict a return to 2019-levels of revenue by next January.