Airbnb is nearing the acquisition of social payments startup Tilt, reportedly for more of $50 million. The move makes sense given Airbnb’s recent expansion into experiences, where it basically wants to go beyond just a lodging booking service to wrap the company around the entire trip. Acquiring Tilt would not only give Airbnb experience in the payments space in general, but also experience working with payments around social gatherings and events — and specifically getting those funded.
Tilt was already popular with the college crowd in booking social events like trips and parties, and extending that to Airbnb seems natural enough.
https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/24/airbnb-is-in-talks-to-acquire-social-payments-startup-tilt/