A group of investors that includes TPG Growth has reached an agreement in principle to invest in Airbnb, the popular home-sharing site, valuing the start-up at about $10 billion, a person briefed on the matter said on Friday.
The investment would lift Airbnb into the upper echelons of Silicon Valley start-up valuations. Other members of the 11-digit club include WhatsApp, which Facebook bought in February for more than $16 billion, and Dropbox, which investors valued at roughly $10 billion last year.
At the value assigned by TPG Growth and others, Airbnb â€" which lets homeowners and apartment dwellers rent out their homes, spare rooms or couches to travelers â€" would be worth more than established hotel chains like Wyndham Worldwide or Hyatt.
The precise amount that the investment group, which had been in talks with Airbnb for several weeks, will provide was not immediately clear.
News of the investment’s status was reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal.
