GV, the corporate venture capital unit formerly known as Google Ventures, has taken part in a $72m series D round for US-based online GIF database Giphy, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.
The round, which valued Giphy at $600m, was led by venture capital firm DFJ and included Institutional Venture Partners, China Media Capital, Betaworks, RRE Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Giphy has built a searchable depository of GIFs – looped short video clips often used in online memes – alongside a range of GIF creation tools.
The company, which was founded in 2013, has yet to begin monetising the platform but will spend the cash on growing its editorial team and strengthening its technical capabilities.
The round increased Giphy’s overall funding to about $150m. CAA Ventures, the CVC arm of talent agency Creative Artists Agency, took part in its $2.4m series A round in early 2014 alongside Betaworks, Lerer Ventures and RRE Ventures.
The same four investors returned for a series B round that closed at $21.5m in January 2015, according to a securities filing, and which also featured Lightspeed and General Catalyst. The round valued Giphy at $80m.
Lightspeed led Giphy’s last round, a $55m series C closed in February this year at a reported $300m valuation. CAA, General Catalyst, RRE, Betaworks and Lerer Hippeau Ventures also took part.