US-based game development platform Roblox raised $520m yesterday in a series H round that included entertainment provider Warner Music Group, valuing it at $29.5bn.
Investment firms Altimeter Capital and Dragoneer Investment Group co-led the round, which also featured Investment Group of Santa Barbara.
Roblox is the creator of an online platform that allows users to build their own games and then share them with others. The platform has more than 31 million active users as of September 2020 and the company made a $203m net loss in the first nine months of 2020, but increased revenue 68% to $588m.
The company filed in November 2020 to raise up to $1bn in an initial public offering that was postponed before the end of the year due to uncertainty about share valuation, and it revealed yesterday it now plans to opt for a direct listing of its shares instead.
The series H valuation represents a huge jump for Roblox, which last raised funding at a $4bn valuation in February 2020, and which had been reported later in the year to be targeting an $8bn valuation in its IPO.
Roblox raised $150m in the February series G round, which was led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and which included internet group Tencent, Temasek, Altos Ventures, Meritech Capital and Tiger Global Management.
The company’s earlier funding had been supplied by Tiger Global, Index Ventures, Altos Ventures, Meritech Capital and First Round Capital.
