Airbnb acquires payment company Tilt
Airbnb has recently acquired social payment company Tilt, which was originally founded in 2012 as a crowdfunded platform. The company will embed Tilt’s services within Airbnb’s payment operations, making life easier for multiple groups who wish to split travelling costs as the company seeks further expansion through diversifying new and existing platforms.
Since May 2015, Tilt was valued at $400 million, according to Techcrunch. The merger with Airbnb will prove advantageous for both companies, who seek to dominate the travel market and fend off competition, such as Paypal and GoFundMe.
Regarding the acquisition, Joe Zadeh, Vice President of Products at Airbnb, said: “Airbnb and Tilt have a common vision for building community-oriented products that make it easy to bring people together. Tilt’s experience and expertise complement our ongoing efforts to transform the way people travel. By joining forces, we’ll reimagine how groups travel and enhance Trips, our new platform that brings together where you stay, what you do, and the people you meet all in one place.”
Through the move, Tilt CEO and cofounder James Beshara will join Airbnb, alongside the Tilt employees who form the payments team, which Airbnb aim to develop and expand in the long-term future.
