Recent reports suggested that messaging app Discord was raising a $500m funding round that could value the company at $15bn. Now that funding is official.
Bloomberg confirmed the news with Discord, noting that the valuation is more than double the $7bn it was worth when it last raised money in 2020. Meanwhile, Microsoft reportedly tabled a $12bn acquisition bid for the company earlier this year, but was turned down.
It’s been a rapid rise to prominence for the startup, which built its initial community in the gaming world before branching out. More than 150 million people are now using Discord on a monthly basis, and a growing number of artists and music companies are exploring its potential to build communities focusing on their keenest fans.
What to spend $500m on? The usual team expansion and tech development, but perhaps Discord could explore music licensing too. YouTube has been shutting down the popular ‘bots’ that stream music into Discord channels, so it might be interesting for the platform to investigate what it can do directly with the music industry…
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools :: Wyng
Through Music Ally’s internal marketing campaign tracking, we’ve recently discovered an interesting website by the…