Reddit, the US-based online community operator backed by internet group Tencent raised an amount of series F funding reported by the Wall Street Journal to be $410m yesterday.
The cash came from investment and financial services group Fidelity, which is set to lead a round Reddit said is expected to close at $700m, at a post-money valuation of $10bn, up from a $6bn pre-money valuation for its last round.
Founded in 2005 and dubbed The Front Page of the Internet, Reddit operates a large, diversified online forum spanning a wide range of topics that are moderated by its own users.
The company said it has increased Q2 advertising revenue 192% year on year to over $100m and is strengthening the platform’s video capabilities.
Reddit said in a blog post announcing the round: “As we shared earlier this year when Reddit raised its series E round of funding, we are making strategic investments to grow Reddit and our business, including expanding internationally, innovating new ways to foster community and bolstering our advertising offerings and capabilities.
“These efforts require us to grow our teams and make smart bets on how to make Reddit better, faster, easier to use and more empowering for communities. We are also evolving as a business, maturing and building the operational structures that will help propel us into the future with transparency, values and integrity.”
The company had secured $368m for a series E round with a $500m target as of February this year, with technology investment firm Vy Capital being joined by undisclosed new and existing backers.
Tencent had already invested $150m to lead Reddit’s $300m series D round in early 2019 at a $3bn post-money valuation, up from $1.8bn for its $200m series C round in 2017.
The series C funding was provided by Vy Capital, investment and financial services group Fidelity, Coatue Management, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and private investors including Ron Conway and Sam Altman.
Sam Altman, Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz had all backed a $50m series B round closed in 2014 when Reddit was spun off by Condé Nast, the subsidiary of media group Advance Publications that had acquired the company in 2006.
