Airbnb hits 10 million guest nights booked

Europe leads the vacation rental service trend as competitor Onefinestay gets new injection of funds

With the Euro Cup going on right now and the Olympic games coming on around the corner, it seems like no surprise that Airbnb is doing a killing Europe at the moment. 

Today, Airbnb released some states about their substantial growth, not the least of which is the 105,000 listings in Europe. 

The San Francisco-based company hit the 10 million guest nights milestone since launching in August 2008.

If you look at where Airbnb was around this time last year, 2 million nights booked, that 10 million nights marker is even more exceptional. Even though the service was born in the states, it is clear that the overseas market for affordable vacation rentals, BnBs and other services is burgeoning. 

At the moment, Airbnb books a new night stay every two seconds -- a rate which just doubled in the past five months.  

The U.S. market makes up less than half of the activity on the site with 55,000 listings compared to Europe's 105,000, Latin America's 20,000, and Asia's 10,000,  

Also Airbnb says that it currently has listings active in more than 19,000 cities and 192 countries.

Airbnb has seen this push for more international usage coming, especially when it went in for the acquisition of UK-based Crashpadder earlier this year and the Germany-based Acceolo last year.  

With roughly $120 million in VC capital, the company has really been able to scale its business and has only hit the tip of the iceberg in areas like Latin America and Asia. 

More competition

As the news of Airbnb's substantial growth hit the wires this morning, word of a competitors' funding also came through. Today, Onefinestay announced that it raised $12 million in a Series B round of funding. 

The round was led by Canaan Partners, with participation from previous investors Index Ventures and PROfounders Capital. Onefinestay has now raised a total of $16 million.

This "unhotel" business has a similar model to Airbnb (where people rent out their own homes to travelers) but has focused on more of the high-end market for luxury estates and apartments. 

Onefinestay even provides the linens and toiletries for a hotel touch in a home environment. The young London-based startup also has an iPhone app with tips, free local calling, and access to guest services like cleaning and a private chef.

Launched about two years ago, the company now assists in the booking of roughly 500 homes with some owners making well north of $50,000 a year. The company is now in the process of launching in New York City with its eyes on further expansion.