Airbnb Is Flush With the Money It's Making Outside the United States
Skift Take
As a private company Airbnb isn't required to publicly disclose much when it comes to its finances. What is clear from analysing the accounts of Airbnb Payments UK Ltd., however, is just how much money is swilling about the company.
Like so many of the other fast-growing tech businesses, Airbnb does its best to hide its performance from the public and competitors.
Of course as a private company it has every right to so, but that makes judging its financial performance very difficult.
Airbnb Inc. is based in Delaware, the U.S. state. While Airbnb's claims of $900 million revenue are impossible to verify, the potential is strong enough to attract investors, who continue to hand over cash.
The company’s rapid growth has generated massive hype. In the most recent round of funding Airbnb allegedly secured a further $850 million, valuing the company at $30 billion.
This veil of secrecy has been lifted, albeit ever so slightly, through the publication of a set of accounts at Companies House in the UK for a company called Airbnb Payments UK Ltd. These disclosures are required for UK businesses.
A cash collecting machine
Airbnb Payments UK Ltd is responsible for collecting all guest fees in every single territory where Airbnb is active except for the U.S., China and India. These three countries have their own corporate entities processing payments.
Looking at the terms and conditions on the Airbnb website, it is easy to see just how important Airbnb Payments UK Ltd. is to its whole operation.
The accounts in question cover a period of just less than a year from January 16, 2015 until December 31 of that same year.
Airbnb’s global business model is pretty simple: it charges guests between 6 and 12 percent of the total booking c
