Home-sharing company Airbnb has reportedly closed a huge $500 million funding round ahead of a possible public offering later this year.
Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the company was seeking more capital, with a whopping $10 billion valuation. TechCrunch reported the closure of the round today, saying TPG was leading it.
Before this new round, Airbnb had raised $326 million since its establishment in 2008.
The new money could help the company navigate the regulatory landscape. This month, its hosts have been petitioning to change laws around evictions that happen when people rent out their homes on Airbnb.
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The new money could also help Airbnb continue to widen its capabilities. The company appears to harbor major ambitions of challenging the vast hotel industry.
And, of course, more funding could help Airbnb keep building its already formidable engineering team.
Last year, more than 6 million guests stayed on Airbnb in 2013, and 2 million of them were American. The company listed more than 550,000 properties worldwide as of December, VentureBeat has reported.
Airbnb did not immediately respond to VentureBeat’s request for comment.
