Canada-based online story-sharing platform developer Wattpad is close to securing C$62m ($49.6m) in a round that will include C$50m from internet company Tencent, the Globe and Mail has reported.
The round will value Wattpad at about 400m and is expected to close in the next few weeks, sources close to the company told the Globe and Mail.
Founded in 2006, Wattpad has built a software platform that allows authors to share stories with a wide audience who can then comment on the story and engage with other readers.
The platform is accessible through the web or a mobile app and has 60 million active readers accessing content from some 2.5 million active writers each month. Wattpad launched a new subscription service this month that will allow users to go ad-free.
The company laid off 10% of its staff in May this year as part of a strategic realignment to focus on emerging products, machine learning, data science and its media and entertainment industry vehicle, Wattpad Studios.
Wattpad closed a $3.5m series A round in 2011 led by venture capital firm Union Square Ventures with contributions from W Media Ventures, Golden Venture Partners and unidentified angel investors.
The company subsequently raised $17.3m in series B financing from Khosla Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Golden Venture Partners and individual investor Jerry Yang in June 2012, adding an undisclosed amount from Omers Ventures three months later.
Omers Ventures then led Wattpad’s $46m series C round in 2014, which included contributions from August Capital, Raine Ventures and Northleaf Capital Partners.