Jessica Guynn

USA TODAY

SAN FRANCISCO — Two tech start-ups with similar names, Noirbnb and Noirebnb, are launching temporary lodging services for African Americans as #AirbnbWhileBlack discrimination complaints mount.

Black Airbnb users are sharing their stories of discrimination while trying to book reservations on Airbnb under the hashtag #AirbnbWhileBlack. A Harvard Business School study found widespread discrimination by Airbnb hosts against guests whose names sounded distinctly black. On Airbnb, users identify themselves with their real name and a photograph — information some hosts use to avoid renting to African Americans.

An African-American man is suing Airbnb for racial discrimination, alleging it did nothing when he was rejected by a host because of his race. Airbnb banned a host in North Carolina last week after he used racist language to reject a 28-year-old Nigerian woman trying to reserve his home because she was black.

CEO Brian Chesky said the incident was "disturbing and unacceptable." "Racism and discrimination have no place on Airbnb," he tweeted.

Airbnb spokesman Nick Papas declined to comment on Noirbnb and Noirebnb.

The services say they will launch soon with the aim of providing a safe, friendly and inclusive travel experience for African Americans, as well as people of any race or ethnicity.

Rohan Gilkes, a 40-year-old tech entrepreneur who splits his time between Tampa, Fla., and Washington, D.C., says he began working on Noirebnb 2 1/2 weeks ago after attempting twice to book a house in Idaho but being told the dates he wanted were not available. A white friend was able to book the house for those dates. Gilkes says soon after he chronicled the experience in a Medium post, his inbox filled up with people who say they, too, were discriminated against based on race, sexual orientation or physical disability.

"I felt a responsibility to do something," said Gilkes, who hopes to launch the service in six weeks.

Entrepreneurs Ronnia Cherry, a 30-year-old marketing professional from Miama, and Stefan Grant, a 27-year-old musician and producer from Washington, D.C., say they rented a house in Atlanta while Grant was performing at a musical festival there in October.

"The next day the neighbors called the police because they thought we were robbing the house. The cops showed up with guns drawn," Grant says. "Luckily we were able to deescalate the situation."

Airbnb spotted the selfie they took with the police officers and reached out to Cherry and Grant to offer free bookings on the service.

"But we knew that wasn't going to solve the problem. We wanted to make sure our situation never happened again," Grant said. "That's when we conceptualized Noirbnb."

Airbnb flew the pair out to San Francisco to hear them out. "We told them it would happen again," Grant said. "I am not sure if they thought we were joking or if they didn't take us seriously."

Cherry and Grant say they checked in again with Airbnb which, with discrimination complaints making headlines, was working on its own initiatives.

"We decided racism and discrimination were still happening so it was pretty much up to us to solve the issue," Grant said.

Over the weekend, they announced Noirbnb.

"The response has been amazing and beyond anything we expected," Cherry said.

Cherry concedes having two companies with such similar names is confusing and says Noirbnb is talking to Noirebnb about what to do.

"We haven't reached an agreement but we are open," she said.