Airbnb In Talks To Acquire Tilt

Home share service Airbnb is reportedly in talks to acquire social payments startup Tilt (formerly Crowdtilt) for a price potentially over $50 million, said TechCrunch, noting that things could still change. Other sources, such as The Information, peg the porential acquisition price as somewhere between $10 million and $20 million.

Either way, the speculative prices are nowhere near the $400 million valuation the startup saw back in 2015 after raising $30 million in a Series B round. Founded in 2012, Tilt raised just over $62 million in total funding from four rounds.

Airbnb’s acquisition of Tilt would move the home share company further into the payments space, a necessary endeavor if the company wants to continue on its track to go beyond facilitating lodging to encompass a larger swath of the travel industry.

Most recently, the company launched its Trips service, providing private tours, localized activities and unique experiences. The feature debuted with 500 experiences in 12 cities back in November.

Around that same time, Airbnb revealed a partnership with business travel management firm AirPlus International as a means to develop a business travel solution that included booking, payment, billing and expense management. The joint venture looked to develop an integrated payments platform allowing accommodation booking and the ability to bill corporate accounts from within the Airbnb mobile app interface.

The future acquisition of Tilt, if successful, will likely fall into the same category — this time, giving the company greater access and insight into the social payments space. Both Tilt and Airbnb have yet to comment.