Online lodging service, Airbnb is planning to buy a California-based startup founded by three Indian-American entrepreneurs in 2014. The startup is a background checking specialist and Airbnb seeks to protect its users and hosts from undesirable and fraudulent people.
According to a report in Fortune magazine, Airbnb is buying Trooly, a startup that is specialized in technology that helps conduct background checks.
Savi Baveja, Anish Das Sarma, and Nilesh Dalvi jointly founded the company. According to the officials, Trooly website Baveja is the CEO of the company. He previously served as a senior partner at the strategy consulting firm Bain & Company and also was a member of the Bain Board of Directors.
Sarma, who is the company's Chief Technology Officer, is an IIT gold medalist and has worked at Google Research and Yahoo Research.
Dalvi, who is the Chief Science Officer, is an IIT alumnus and has worked at Facebook and Yahoo Research.
Trooly uses public and permissible digital footprints to understand and predict the trustworthiness of individuals and businesses. The company uses minimal and non-intrusive identity information as input and returns “trust” ratings, which incorporate screening for undesirable past behaviors.
A spokesperson for Airbnb confirmed that the acquisition but did not disclose the amount or the number of workers involved.
"We look forward to welcoming the Trooly team to Airbnb in the coming weeks," the Airbnb spokesperson said in the Fortune said. "We'll continue working together to better facilitate trust between strangers on, off and across the platform - supporting Airbnb's overall strategy to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere".
Founded in 2014, Trooly raised $10 million in funding.
Trooly's technology is an alternative to conventional background checks and credit score services that businesses typically use to screen employees before hiring.
Airbnb has reportedly been a customer of Trooly since 2015.
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