Airbnb raises $1 billion in latest round of funding

(Reuters) – Online room renting service Airbnb Inc said on Thursday it had raised $1 billion in its latest round of funding, valuing the company at $31 billion.

Airbnb raised $447.85 million as part of the funding, a source close to the company told Reuters. The company said in September it had raised about $555 million as part of the same round of funding.

Airbnb, which operates in more than 65,000 cities, has enjoyed tremendous growth as it pushes ahead with its plans of global expansion.

The company turned in a profit on an EBITDA basis in the second half of 2016 and expects to continue to be profitable this year, the source said, adding that Airbnb had no plans to go public anytime soon.

The company is locked in an intensifying global battle with regulators who say the service takes affordable housing off the market and drives up rental prices.

(Reporting by Anya George Tharakan and Rishika Sadam in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)