CouchSurfing Goes Legit

A couchsurfer hosts a cyclist on his way to Brussels.

Image: Wim Harwig/Flickr

Imagine that the über-cheap travel-lodging company Airbnb was actually a close-knit community of global citizens committed to breaking down cultural barriers and creating meaningful relationships—and that it was free. Well, that’s exactly what CouchSurfing.org is, and although they actually predate Airbnb, the main reason why you probably haven’t heard of them is that until recently they were a nonprofit organization.

In August, the company successfully raised $7.6 million in Series A funding with the help of U.S. investors Omidyar Ventures and VC Benchmark Capital, and on Tuesday was joined by its first international investor, Berlin-based venture capital firm Point Nine Capital, and in so doing has essentially been reborn as a new breed of for-profit corporation, called a B Corporation.

“We became a B Corp. because it provides the support for our mission that we would expect to find in the nonprofit sector while allowing us the freedom to innovate that more traditional for-profit companies enjoy,” according to a statement by CouchSurfing shared with certifying agency BCorporation.net.

A B corporation isn’t meant to be set apart from mainstream corporation, or “A” corporations, but instead is an abbreviation for "benefit," specifically a corporation which uses business to solve social and environmental problems—a structure now legally recognized by seven states. For now, CouchSurfing is free, and still not making money, though they have shared with TechCrunch that they do have a revenue-earning model in the works.

“Capitalism is good, and corporations are good,” said Dermot Hikisch, head of community development for B Corporation." “But it’s a 200-year-old concept that doesn’t take into consideration that we only have one planet.”

Basically, B corporations are for-profit institutions with transparency and accountability similar to a nonprofit company. There are over 450 certified B corporations across 60 different industries.

CouchSurfing’s commitment to facilitate “intercultural understanding, personal development, and inspiring social experiences” makes it a perfect fit for the new breed of corporate structure.

The travel-lodging company hosts “couches” in 81,000 cities all over the world and boasts 3.5 million registered users. Christopher Janz, founder and managing partner of Point Nine Capital, told TechCrunch it made sense for CouchSurfing to acquire a European investor considering its global mission, and that the venture capital firm was excited to participate in the funding even if it was a little “late to the party.”