(Reuters) – Reddit Inc, which has been at the center of a recent social media-driven retail frenzy, said on Monday it had raised more than $ 250 million in a new round of funding that doubled its rating to billions of dollars.
The social media company was valued at $ 3 billion following a February 2019 round of funding.
“We decided it was now a good opportunity to make strategic investments in Reddit, including video, advertising, consumer products and expanding into international markets,” the company said in a blog post. (bit.ly/3p37uC3)
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman told the Wall Street Journal that it is a good market to raise funds. (on.wsj.com/2N5U62)
“The evaluations are very high right now. It never hurts to raise money when there is an opportunity to do so, and Reddit has had a strong year, ”Huffman said, according to the WSJ report.
Reddit, which has more than 50 million daily active users, said in a blog post that advertising revenue increased by 90% in the last quarter compared to a year earlier.
Video game retailer GameStop Corp. and other companies, including filmmaker AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., have seen wild twists in the past two weeks as amateur investors on forums like Reddit’s WallStreetBets have acted in concert to bid for shares that some funds Americans bet them.
The rally drew the attention of regulators, although US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Sunday that it was too early to say whether new policies or regulations were needed to deal with volatility.
Reporting by Rama Venkat and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Edited by Devika Syamnath and Shounak Dasgupta