Nathan Blecharczyk travel tips

EU countries and European Parliament lawmakers are set to agree on light touch rules for Airbnb next week, three people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, who left his full-time role at the company a year ago, has sold more than $1.37 billion worth of his Class A shares since that time, including more than $1 billion so far in 2023, according to regulatory filings, Bloomberg reported. Gebbia still chairs the non-profit Airbnb.org, but more importantly, he retains the bulk — but not all — of his Class B shares, which now give him 19.8% of Airbnb’s voting power. Together with his two other co-founders, CEO Brian Chesky (30.6%) and Chief Strategy Officer Nathan Blecharczyk (26.9%), they control 77.3% of Airbnb’s voting power.

Good morning, readers. I hope you’re having an easy Thursday so far. I don’t know about you, but I am loving the new look of this newsletter, so much so that I sent myself multiple test emails this morning.

Five travel tech startups have announced fundraises this week totaling more than $144 million. 

As we approach the end of the year, venture capitalists are spilling some of that dry powder on real estate-tech firms.

>>Ukio, a Barcelona-based short-term rental platform focused on remote workers, has raised $28 million (€27 million) in a Series A round of funding.

Airbnb said that the flexible search features it has rolled out since early 2021 have so far diverted bookings from destinations coping with overtourism and peak travel times, according to data it shared on Friday.