Reddit Inc. doubled its $ 6 billion valuation in a new round of funding, which comes as the social media company added users through the Covid-19 pandemic and, more recently, gained attention for its role in the recent trade frenzy from Wall Street.
Reddit said on Monday that it had raised $ 250 million in a late-financing round led by venture capital firm Vy Capital. It was previously valued at $ 3 billion after its last round of funding in February 2019, according to PitchBook, a private data provider. Current Reddit investors also include venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and internet conglomerate Tencent Holdings Ltd.
“It’s a good market for fundraising,” Steve Huffman, Reddit’s chief executive, said in an interview. “The evaluations are very high right now. It never hurts to raise money when there is a chance to do so and Reddit has had a strong year. “For example, advertising revenue for the company increased by 90% in the quarter ended December compared to a year earlier,” he said.
Funding for Reddit comes just weeks after the social-up-start network Clubhouse raised new capital. Clubhouse was valued at $ 1 billion last month after earning $ 100 million in a round of funding led by Andreessen, according to PitchBook.
San Francisco-based Reddit, founded in 2005, is known for its message boards on a variety of topics, as well as for “ask me anything” digital town halls with celebrities, politicians and experts. The unprofitable company was sold to Condé Nast in 2006 and the father of the magazine’s publisher, Advance Publications Inc., gave up Reddit in 2011 and remains a shareholder. The company has raised about $ 800 million since 2011.