Airbnb Acquires Urbandoor
Airbnb’s mission is to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere, and we are building an end-to-end travel platform that combines where you stay, what you do, and how you get there, all in one place. Our community is a thriving, global network that offers unique, high-quality accommodations that cannot be found anywhere else. As we work to grow this community and advance our mission, we are acquiring Urbandoor — a global online marketplace where professionals can easily find furnished and serviced apartments tailored to their needs for extended business trips, relocations, and other longer-term stays.
Urbandoor, incubated with support from Greystar Real Estate Partners, and founded by Erik Eccles, Benjamin Renaud, and Zack Chandler in 2015, brings together accomplished technologists, entrepreneurs, real estate, and hospitality professionals to connect guests with furnished apartment options that meet their needs. Today, the Urbandoor footprint includes apartment communities in more than 1,500 cities in over 60 countries.
“We started Urbandoor because we wanted to connect traveling and relocating professionals with the right apartment every time, anywhere. Joining the Airbnb family will help us make good on our goals and expand our work with multifamily and corporate housing partners to bring even more great places to stay to Airbnb travelers.” Erik Eccles, Co-Founder, Urbandoor
Guests looking to book longer trips – often business travelers or people in the process of relocating – choose to stay in serviced apartments because they offer amenities such as gyms, pools, and concierge services. Bringing more of these places to stay to Airbnb will strengthen Airbnb for Work’s engagement with the more than 500,000 companies who use Airbnb for Work to help manage their business travel.
“Whether your trip is for work or pleasure, Airbnb can help you feel like you belong anywhere in the world. Regardless of if a guest’s stay is one day, one week, or a few months, we aim to provide them with authentic, local experiences every time. Urbandoor’s strategic relationships with multifamily owners and operators will help us bring magical travel to even more people.” Clara Liang, General Manager for Professional Hosting, Airbnb
“Joining Urbandoor with Airbnb accelerates the mission to create a seamless, global online corporate housing marketplace. As the global leader in the constantly evolving rental housing industry, Greystar is focused on aligning with innovative firms, such as Airbnb. Airbnb and the sharing economy are here to stay and we are looking forward to collaborating with Airbnb to find additional ways to create value for our clients and enhance our resident experience.” Bob Faith, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Greystar
Airbnb’s acquisition of Urbandoor builds on the solutions Airbnb offers multifamily housing owners and operators. Urbandoor already provides multifamily property owners and operators access to demand for longer stays, and by joining Airbnb they’ll work to ensure multifamily owners and operators have increased access to long-term demand to increase yield and returns — all while improving the guest experience.
“Airbnb is partnering with property owners, developers, and residents to support hosting around the world. With the Urbandoor team, we’re looking forward to building on this work by developing new technology to benefit the real estate community and improve the guest booking experience for business travelers and anyone relocating or staying for extended periods of time.” Greg Greeley, President of Homes, Airbnb
All Urbandoor employees will join Airbnb, and over time, Urbandoor listings for long-term stays will also be bookable through the Airbnb platform, making it easy for guests on Airbnb to find magical stays of any duration, anywhere. If you are a multifamily owner or operator and want to work with Urbandoor and Airbnb, click here to learn more.
