Airbnb has confidentially filed to go public. On Wednesday, the company announced that it submitted a draft registration to the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering. According to the company, the number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined.
The San Francisco-based company is bouncing back since pandemic-related shutdowns drove the travel industry to a halt earlier this year. The industry lost an estimated $330 billion in revenue since the beginning of March, according to a report by the U.S. Travel Association.
Travel cancelations also resulted in substantial revenue loss for the home-sharing service, but the tech giant appears poised to mount a comeback. Although the company did not disclose any new financial information, the latest move signals that business might be picking up again.
Airbnb hosts living in rural areas, for example, have seen a recent uptick in business as those in pandemic-stricken cities search for nearby solitude.
According to the company, rural hosts across the country earned over $200 million in the month of June, a 25 percent increase from the same time last year. The company defines rural areas as places with fewer than 100 residents per square kilometer.
“[Our] business has far from recovered, but we are encouraged by these signs on behalf of our hosts. Although there is a tremendous amount of uncertainty as the pandemic continues to move around the world, we believe that people’s desire to safely connect and be with one another has only grown stronger while we’ve been apart,” a spokesperson for the company said in a statement.
The company launched an array of online programming earlier this year to help its hosts earn money worldwide. With Airbnb’s online experiences, attendees can virtually learn how to make tacos from a chef in Mexico City, practice meditation with a Buddhist monk in Japan or brush up on their coffee skills in Seattle. Classes vary in price, but most of those listed are accessible for less than $30.
“We are optimistic that our community, our company and tourism overall can emerge from this crisis in a strong position,” a spokesperson for the company said.
Following its latest funding round in April, Airbnb was valued at $18 billion. The company has raised $5.4 billion in venture capital financing to date, according to Crunchbase.
