The Sharing Economy Gets a Poster Child Valued at $1.3bn

by Paul Marsden
in Social
— 26 Jul, 2011

Here’s some more evidence that the sharing economy is becoming a significant trend in social commerce. AirBnB, the user-review-powered P2P marketplace that allows people to share their homes with travellers around the globe has just joined the billion dollar valuation club, following a new $112m round of investment and valuing the 36 month old startup at $1.3bn.

With 2m bookings in 16,701 locations across 186 countries, a neat escrow system to take the anxiety out of private B&B bookings, and a domestic lodging market worth $125bn, AirBnB is looking to expand through Europe and Brazil. Why on Earth eBay or big travel brands didn’t give birth to AirBnB is a mystery. Elephants can’t dance and all that – which is good news for social commerce startups. Checkout the GigaOM video with AirBnB CEO Brian Chesky embedded below.

So here’s a brainstorming question. What would be the AirBnB of your industry? If it’s going to come, you might as well own it.

Tags: Airbnb

— Paul Marsden

Psychologist specialising in consumer psychology, innovation and technology. Author, speaker and researcher for consumer brands, technology companies and marketing agencies.

One comment on “The Sharing Economy Gets a Poster Child Valued at $1.3bn”

rent-n-roll on February 10, 2012 at 12:36 said:

Peer-to-peer carsharing is also an interesting business in the sharing economy. Although there’s no Airbnb there yet, companies like http://www.getaround.com/ and our own on http://www.rent-n-roll.de/ try to become one! ;-)

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