Skip to main content

Airbnb quietly acquired Eliot, an on-demand rental pricing tool, in 2018

eliot

  • Airbnb quietly acquired Eliot, a real-time pricing calculator for rental property owners, in a previously unreported 2018 deal, an Airbnb spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider.

Airbnb bought up Eliot, an on-demand rental pricing tool, in a previously unreported deal in October 2018, an Airbnb spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider.

Eliot, founded in 2017 by Edouard Tabet, analyzed "billions of vacation rental pricing points to accuratly [sic] predict short-term rental revenue, trends and price surge events," its website said in 2018, according to The Internet Archive.

On-demand or "surge" pricing, where prices for a product fluctuate as demand ebbs and flows, has been an essential aspect of platform-based companies like Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb, allowing them to make more money during busy times and keep consumers coming during slower periods.

In 2015, Airbnb rolled out its Smart Pricing feature, which it said "allows hosts to set pricing controls that automatically adjust to demands in order to stay competitively priced." Since Smart Pricing's debut predated the Eliot by several years, it's unclear whether Airbnb wanted to acquire the company's technology and talent, buy out a potential competitor, or both.

Airbnb did not disclose how much it paid for the company or what the terms were, though Tabet's LinkedIn profile lists his current job title as "head of growth, Growth & Traffic" at Airbnb. The domain for Bold's website now redirects to a company called Velo Payments, which says it's "making the payouts process accurate, reliable and easy." Business Insider could not confirm whether there is any connection between the companies.

Bold is among several acquisitions made by Airbnb that the company has been relatively quiet about, in contrast to its purchases of companies like HotelTonight and Luxury Retreats. With Airbnb preparing to go public in 2020, investors will be paying close attention to how each of its more than 20 past purchases have paid off.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Stop using champagne flutes — this is the best way to drink champagne



from Tech Insider https://ift.tt/36OlWEA
via IFTTT

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Instagram accidentally reinstated Pornhub’s banned account

After years of on-and-off temporary suspensions, Instagram permanently banned Pornhub’s account in September. Then, for a short period of time this weekend, the account was reinstated. By Tuesday, it was permanently banned again. “This was done in error,” an Instagram spokesperson told TechCrunch. “As we’ve said previously, we permanently disabled this Instagram account for repeatedly violating our policies.” Instagram’s content guidelines prohibit  nudity and sexual solicitation . A Pornhub spokesperson told TechCrunch, though, that they believe the adult streaming platform’s account did not violate any guidelines. Instagram has not commented on the exact reasoning for the ban, or which policies the account violated. It’s worrying from a moderation perspective if a permanently banned Instagram account can accidentally get switched back on. Pornhub told TechCrunch that its account even received a notice from Instagram, stating that its ban had been a mistake (that message itse...

Watch Aidy Bryant *completely* lose it as 'SNL' roasts political pundits

On Saturday Night Live , there are breaks and then there's whatever happened here. The Season 45 premiere featured a sketch that was meant to expose the empty noisemaking of political punditry on TV. But part of the joke involved a series of quick costume changes, and some weirdness during one of those switches led to a complete and total breakdown. Aidy Bryant, the segment's host, couldn't take it. She manages to keep it together until what appears to be an accidental wide shot exposes some of the magic as we see a woman who's probably a member of the SNL wardrobe crew fiddling with Aidy's costume. Read more... More about Saturday Night Live , Aidy Bryant , Entertainment , and Movies Tv Shows from Mashable https://ift.tt/2okrAOq via IFTTT

MVP versus EVP: Is it time to introduce ethics into the agile startup model?

Anand Rao Contributor Share on Twitter Anand Rao is global head of AI at PwC . The rocket ship trajectory of a startup is well known: Get an idea, build a team and slap together a minimum viable product (MVP) that you can get in front of users. However, today’s startups need to reconsider the MVP model as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) become ubiquitous in tech products and the market grows increasingly conscious of the ethical implications of AI augmenting or replacing humans in the decision-making process. An MVP allows you to collect critical feedback from your target market that then informs the minimum development required to launch a product — creating a powerful feedback loop that drives today’s customer-led business. This lean, agile model has been extremely successful over the past two decades — launching thousands of successful startups, some of which have grown into billion-dollar companies. However, building high-performing product...