Investors Pump $250M Into Reddit Following Social Media Site’s Role in GameStop Mania

Reddit has raised $250 million in a Series E fundraising round, the company announced Monday night. 

The social media site, which said both new and existing investors participated but did not disclose their names, plans to double its headcount with the funds, as well as build out its “video, advertising, consumer products” and international efforts, according to a blog post. 

According to the Wall Street Journal, this means Reddit plans to have a total of 1,400 employees by the end of 2021 and now enjoys a $6 billion valuation. 

The company has made headlines over the past few weeks, most notably when its r/WallStreetBets community helped pump GameStop’s share price and other securities to triple-digit growth, triggering Securities and Exchange Commission investigations and Congressional hearings. This mania later spread to Dogecoin and XRP, both of which saw massive price run-ups.

“Time and again, we have seen the power of community and connection alongside the growth and evolution of those communities and the humans behind them,” Monday’s announcement said.

The blog post didn’t mention the GameStop pump, though a Super Bowl ad purchased by the company for Sunday night’s game obliquely referenced it, saying “one thing we learned from our communities last week is that underdogs can accomplish just about anything when they come together around a common idea.”

Reddit did not discuss its current financial situation but noted in Monday’s announcement that it sees over 50 million daily users and said its direct advertising revenue increased 90% over the past quarter, compared to the last quarter of 2019.

“We continue to invest in building and improving the ways people on Reddit connect – whether that’s traditionally through text-based discussions or through video or live streaming,” the blog post said. 

While Monday’s announcement did not mention its recent crypto forays, it comes just under two weeks after the company expanded its partnership with the Ethereum Foundation in the hopes of “bringing Ethereum to Reddit-scale production.”