Airbnb raises $555m at $30bn valuation
Airbnb has raised another $555m in a fresh funding round, valuing the firm at $30bn. An investment arm of Google and Technology Crossover Ventures participated in the round, according to sources. Airbnb employees of four years or more were also able to sell common shares to investors as part of the deal, with about $200m of employee stock sold. The Wall Street Journal reported that the deal “is designed in part to relieve some of the pressure to go public, as the company will have more funds to spend on expansion overseas, and can give longer-term employees the option to get cash for some of their shares...”

Airbnb has reportedly raised $555 million and that's just the beginning, a source close to the company told CNET on Thursday. Apparently the funding round is not yet closed and the company could raise as much as $850 million.

This infusion of cash could push the San Francisco-based home-rental company's valuation up to $30 billion, which would allow it to maintain its title as one of the five highest-valued venture-backed companies in the world. Ride-hailing service Uber is the highest-valued company, at $68 billion.

Rumors of this new round of funding circulated in June but didn't become official until Thursday when the company submitted a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, said the source close to the company. An Airbnb spokesman declined to comment.

One of the funders in this round is said to be an investment arm of Alphabet, or Google, according to The Wall Street Journal. The source close to the company said Airbnb isn't necessarily looking for cash, but rather trying to bring in investors committed to the company's long-term growth.

Airbnb is a home-rental marketplace, founded in 2008, that's gone from catering to couch surfers to having a massive online presence. It now has more than 2 million listings with hosts in more than 34,000 cities in nearly 200 countries.

As Airbnb grows, so does talk of the company going public. However, it appears this new investment will help Airbnb stave off an initial public offering for a while more as it continues to hammer out legal issues with regulators around the world. The company has knocked heads with lawmakers in several cities in the US, including San Francisco, New York, New Orleans and Los Angeles.