US: In a move designed to strengthen its business travel offer, Airbnb has acquired extended stay accommodation platform Urbandoor, for an undisclosed sum.
San Francisco-based Urbandoor was founded in 2015 by Erik Eccles, Benjamin Renaud, and Zack Chandler in 2015. It offers units in multifamily buildings to corporate travellers, and its portfolio includes buildings in more than 1,500 cities in over 60 countries.
Co-founder Erik Eccles said: “We started Urbandoor because we wanted to connect travelling 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 travellers.”
Urbandoor will be part of the Airbnb for Work offer, which is used by more than 500,000 companies to help manage their business travel.
Clara Liang, general manager for professional hosting, Airbnb, said: “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.”
In 2017 Urbandoor partnered with Greystar, on of the largest US providers of multifamily housing, to syndicate and operate its national corporate housing rentals through Urbandoor’s platform.
Bob Faith, founder, chairman and CEO of Greystar, said: “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.”
All of Urbandoor’s employees will join Airbnb, and over time, Urbandoor listings for long-term stays will also be bookable through the Airbnb platform.</p
