Today, I’m pleased to announce that Localmind has been acquired by Airbnb.
See Techcrunch’s story and Airbnb’s blog post for more info.
Localmind was Year One Labs’ first investment, and it’s our first exit as well. It’s a fantastic day for the team: Lenny Rachitsky, Beau Haugh and Nelson Gauthier. They worked like crazy over the last couple of years to develop a platform and vision around how we will communicate, interact and share in a mobile + local + social world. They’ve pushed a lot of thinking in this space and will continue to do so as part of the Airbnb team.
If you’re not familiar with Airbnb, you should be. They’re killing it. The company announced in June that it had booked 10 million guest nights since it started in 2008. And recently, CEO Brian Chesky said that by December, Airbnb will be booking more rooms than all Hilton hotels combined. Their showing hockey stick curve growth with incredible potential and opportunity going forward.
I’ve written about Localmind a few times since I started working with them. Looking back on those posts is instructive of the progress and challenges they faced:
Like any startup, Localmind had its ups and downs. I learned a lot working with the team. I learned a lot from the experience of helping the company start with an idea, build a product, raise capital, scale and exit. I’m grateful for that. It was an incredible journey.
Lenny, Beau and Nelson now have an opportunity to make a bigger impact with a faster growing company on a ridiculously big scale. I have no doubt in my mind that they’ll be incredibly successful with Airbnb and with whatever they choose to do in the future.
Founding Partner at 