US-based social news aggregation platform Reddit is looking to raise $150m to $300m in a series D round led by internet group Tencent, TechCrunch reported yesterday.
Tencent is reportedly committing $150m to the round, which is set to value Reddit at $2.7bn pre-money and up to $3bn post-money. Its existing investors are expected to return, driving the round to a potential $300m.
Founded in 2005, Reddit lets users create themed boards called subreddits covering a wide range of topics such as news, politics, books, films, games, fitness, food and life experiences, where users can submit posts, much like an online forum.
Other users can leave comments and upvote or downvote submissions, with the highest ranking posts displayed at the top of the respective subreddit and, if an article gains enough votes, on the front page, leading to its moniker as The Front Page of the Internet.
The series D funding will drive growth as Reddit, which had 330 million monthly active users as of October 2018, seeks to ramps up advertising revenue.
Reddit was acquired by publisher Condé Nast for an undisclosed sum in 2006, having raised only $100,000 by that point. It was spun out again in time for a $50m series B round in 2014 led by Sam Altman, president of incubator Y Combinator.
Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and assorted angel investors also participated in the series B round.
Condé Nast retained a majority stake in Reddit as late as 2017, when the company raised $200m in series C capital from Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, Coatue Management, Vy Capital, Fidelity, Sam Altman and Ron Conway at a $1.8bn post-money valuation.
