Airbnb Quiz: Can You Decode Its Growth?

Airbnb was born out of a simple problem: two roommates could not pay their rent and decided to rent out space in their apartment to conference attendees. The city where this happened is also home to many of the world's biggest tech companies and has long been a hub for startup culture.

The name Airbnb reflects exactly how the company started: guests were offered a place to sleep and a meal in the morning. The original setup was very basic, with founders using what they had at home. The name stuck even as the platform grew to list millions of properties across the world.

Airbnb was co-founded by three individuals who each brought different skills to the table. Two of them were roommates who came up with the original idea, while the third was a friend with a technical background who helped build the platform. Together, they took the company from a side project to a global business.

As Airbnb looked to grow beyond the US, it acquired a German home-sharing startup in 2011. This purchase gave Airbnb a team on the ground in Europe and helped fast-track its international expansion. The Hamburg office that followed became its first step into building a global operational presence.

In late 2010, Airbnb secured its Series A funding from two prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firms. At the time, many investors had passed on the company, not seeing its potential. This round gave Airbnb the capital it needed to grow its team, expand its listings and scale operations further.