Reddit raised $ 250 million in a Series E fundraiser, the company announced on Monday evening. The social media platform, which specified that both new and old investors of the company participated in the financing without, however, revealing any names, plans to double its staff with the funds raised, as well as to develop new "videos, advertising , consumer products ”and strengthen international engagement, says a post on her blog. According to the Wall Street Journal, that means Reddit now enjoys a $ 6 billion valuation and aims to have a total of 1.400 employees by the end of 2021.
The power of communities
Reddit has been making headlines in recent weeks, particularly when its community called r / WallStreetBets set out to push the share price of GameStop and other stocks up, generating astonishing triple-digit growth.
All this triggered targeted investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the United States Congress met on an exceptional basis to discuss the unprecedented situation. The frenzy around stock trading has subsequently spread to cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin and XRP, both of which have seen huge price increases - here the quotation in real time.
“Over and over, we have seen the power of community and connection along with the growth and evolution of communities themselves and the people behind them.”, Is written in Monday's post. The text did not mention the GameStop case, but during an advertisement for the company aired during the Super Bowl on Sunday night, a cross reference to the story was inserted with the phrase: “one thing we learned from our communities last week is that losers can achieve anything when they come together around a common idea. "
Reddit looks ahead
Reddit didn't talk about its current financial situation, but in Monday's post it highlighted the fact that it hosts over 50 million users per day and said its direct ad revenue increased 90% in the last quarter, compared to last quarter of 2019.
"We continue to invest in building and improving the ways people on Reddit can connect, whether this is done in traditional ways via written discussions, video or live streaming," the blog post reports.
“We are confident in our mission to create a sense of community and belonging for all and are well positioned for the growth we have planned,” the company wrote. While Monday's announcement did not mention Reddit's recent forays into the crypto world, it comes just under two weeks after the company expanded its partnership with the Ethereum Foundation in hopes of "bringing Ethereum to Reddit-scale production." .
