Chat startup Discord Inc. roughly doubled its valuation to $7 billion in a financing that comes amid the service’s efforts to expand its user base beyond videogamers.
The San Francisco-based company said it raised $100 million in a funding round led by venture-capital firm Greenoaks Capital, which was already an investor in the company.
Discord makes voice- and text-communication software that is popular among computer and mobile gamers because it allows them to hang out and talk with their friends and communities. The service’s rise coincides with the explosion in popularity and valuation of online multiplayer games such as Epic Games Inc.’s “Fortnite.”
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The financing comes as the company tries to become popular with more mainstream users. In September, for instance, the company hired former Nike Inc. marketer Tesa Aragones to serve as chief marketing officer to oversee Discord’s expansion beyond gaming.
Discord expects to notch more than $100 million in revenue this year, three times the previous year’s level, according to a person familiar with the matter. The service has 140 million monthly active users, double what it had last year, the person added.
“We believe Discord will evolve and grow alongside the endless innovation in the ways people interact, ultimately connecting billions of people around the world,” Greenoaks founder and Managing Partner Neil Mehta said in announcing the deal.
The financing, a late-stage Series H round, priced Discord shares at $280 each, up from $144 a share last round, according to a blog post by Lagniappe Labs, publisher of the Prime Unicorn Index, which reviewed a filing disclosing some details of the funding. The deal follows a $100 million round of capital Discord raised this summer that valued the company at $3.5 billion.
Discord generates revenue with subscriptions to its Nitro service that offers enhancements to chat for $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year.
The communication software company is also backed by investors including Index Ventures, IVP, Greylock Partners and Spark Capital.
This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.