Tech M&A: Airbnb acquires a London-based startup for accessibility upgrades

Airbnb, the accommodation and travel startup, made a huge announcement this week. The company announced plans to acquire Accomable to beef up services to travelers with mobility issues. However, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed to the public.

According to TechCrunch, the accommodation and travel startup has acquired the “Airbnb for disabled people startup” for an undisclosed amount. Airbnb has bought the London-based startup Accomable to get on travel listings that are disabled-friendly. The company is currently working on its own accessibility features and the Accomable deal is the first big step in the company’s big plans.

About Airbnb, the acquirer
Founded in 2008 and based in San Francisco, California, Airbnb is a fast-growing online community marketplace for people to list, discover and book accommodations around the world. The company allows people to have unique travel experience at any price point, with over 2 million accommodation listings in 192 countries. Airbnb, which is now valued at $31 billion, also provides people an easy way to monetize their extra spaces and showcase it to the big audience through the company’s online community marketplace.

In addition, Airbnb also made several acquisitions in the past years. These include competitors like Accoleo, Localmind, Nabewise, and CrashPadder, according to the startup’s profile at Crunchbase.   



About Accomable, the target company
Founded in 2015 and based in London, UK, Accomable is an online marketplace for accessible travel services. Before the startup’s deal with Airbnb, Accomable has already raised about $458,130 in fresh funding, which reportedly made up of a combination of seed funding and a grant provided by the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship.

Accomable is likely to integrate with Airbnb’s new accessibility checklist for hosts, which include features such as wider entryways for people with mobility issues and step-free entries into rooms. The company has already rolled out some of these features into its web-based platform. A mobile version is expected to arrive in the next few months, according to VentureBeat.

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