Facebook's first outside investor, Peter Thiel is likely to invest roughly $150 million in Airbnb in a deal that would value the lodging rental start-up at about $2.5 billion, reveals a report in the Wall Street Journal.
PayPal co-founder, Thiel has reportedly shown his interest in online room-rental juggernaut Airbnb and the report indicated that its current investors at Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital would also participate in this round of financing. However, the deal is not signed yet and the details are not out in its entirety.
With the rumoured cash influx, the four-year-old San Francisco startup will more than double the $120 million the company has raised so far. The company landed high-profile celebrity and tech investor Ashton Kutcher as an advisor. AirBnb was valued at $1.3 billion after its last financing in July 2011.
The company had made a strong comeback after two users complained that its travel services had left them the victims of vandalism and theft. It later launched a $50,000 insurance policy after users' complaints. The company had a steady growth ever since. AirBnb is active in 192 countries now and has seen more than more than 5 million nights booked. Between February 2011 and February 2012, the company's nights booked multiplied by five.
At the event of a $150 million funding, AirBnb will become one of Silicon Valley's most highly-valued private companies in just four years after the company was founded by a trio of graduates from the Rhode Island School of Design and Harvard.
