Short-term lodging purveyor Airbnb, the scourge of New York City hotel and motel owners, has closed on a $500 million funding round.
Led by private equity firm TPG and Dragoneer Investment Group, the latest bit of funding brings the company’s total raised to $826 million. Several mutual funds, including T. Rowe Price, were also reportedly involved. Allen & Co., which recently advised Facebook on the social media giant’s $19 billion WhatsApp purchase and was involved in Twitter’s IPO, reportedly kicked in capital as well.
A number of investors from a previous $326 million backing are also rumored to be involved in the latest round.
Airbnb’s valuation is said to be $10 billion.
The website, meanwhile, continues to tangle with the law in New York City, where its short-term rental providers face uncertainties about taxation and other legal issues. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman subpoenaed the firm’s host data in October, looking to rake in tax dollars from the more than $50 million in gross revenue that’s been generated by the firm’s top 100 hosts over the last three years. [TechCrunch] — Julie Strickland