Airbnb Raises Millions — And Market Cap

Many startups have hailed themselves as the “Uber of X,” and just as many have failed to live up to that promise. However, any doubters of Airbnb’s long-term viability in the sharing economy’s version of the home rental market might have to eat a large slice of humble pie.

According to an anonymous source for The Wall Street Journal, Airbnb has reportedly closed yet another round of funding, this time for $100 million in fresh capital, which was based on the startup’s $25.5 billion valuation. To date, Airbnb has raised about $1.5 billion in operating cash.

WSJ explained that Airbnb leaned primarily on its recent growth performance during the funding round, which included heavy emphasis on the company’s third quarter statistics. In July, Airbnb projected a year-end revenue total of $825 million, but in an earnings call with investors, that figure was revised to $900 million based on increasing rentals over the past several months. Part of this revenue spike might be attributed to the dynamic service fee that Airbnb charges to renters per visit, as opposed to the flat 3 percent fee taken from owners. WSJ crunched Airbnb’s recent numbers and deduced that, for the company to hit $900 million by Dec. 31, it must be charging guests a 12 percent service charge.

That puts 15 percent of the revenue from the estimated 78 million nights booked through Airbnb directly into the company’s pockets.

Interestingly, WSJ noted that Airbnb’s presentation to investors did not include any information on its bottom line figures, which may indicate that the company is still stomaching heavy operating losses. However, if a hair under 80 million nights booked per year and a bit more revenue to get to $1 billion annually still leaves Airbnb with losses so high it can’t release them publicly, is there a chance its magic break-even number could be further away than Airbnb and its investors think?