Patreon, a US-based artist support service backed by talent agencies CAA and UTA, received $90m yesterday in a series E round valuing it at $1.2bn according to Variety.
The round was co-led by venture capital firms New Enterprise Associates and Wellington Management and included Lone Pine Capital, Glade Brook Capital, Thrive Capital, DFJ Growth and Index Ventures.
Founded in 2013, Patreon operates an online platform that allows fans to make monthly financial contributions to artists in return for exclusive content. Its membership base includes more than 200,000 creators, such as musicians, writers, comic artists and podcasters.
Creators have so far been paid a cumulative $2bn through the platform and Patreon said its growth rate points towards combined earnings of at least $1bn per year for artists.
The series E financing will go toward increased international expansion efforts and developing enhanced functionality for creators and subscribers, including the addition of more currencies and the improvement of the company’s merchandising service.
The round brought Patreon’s overall funding to $257m in funding altogether, including $2.1m in a 2013 seed round featuring SV Angel, Freestyle Capital, CRV, Accomplice (then called Atlas Venture), Rothenberg Ventures and assorted angel investors.
CAA Ventures and UTA Ventures, respective subsidiaries of CAA and UTA, backed a $15m series A round for the company in 2014 together with Index Ventures, CRV, Freestyle Capital, Thrive Capital, SV Angel and Accomplice.
Thrive Capital led Patreon’s $30m series B round in 2016, investing alongside Allen and Company, Accomplice, Index Ventures, Freestyle Capital and CRV. The last three returned for a $60m series C round the following year that was also led by Thrive Capital.
The company then secured $60m in a July 2019 series D round led by Glade Brook Capital that included Thrive Capital, Initialized Capital, Index Ventures, DFJ, Freestyle Capital, CRV, Otherwise and private investors including System of a Down frontman Seri Tankian and comedian Hannibal Buress.
