Patreon, whose platform lets creators earn money from fans through subscriptions, has raised $90 million in new funding. The seven-year-old company says it now has a valuation of $1.2 billion, and it’s planning to use the financing to expand internationally and beef up tools for creators (and their fans).
pictured above), in a video announcing the funding Tuesday, said the company has never disclosed its valuation before “because I didn’t want to make it about Patreon — I wanted to make it about our creators.” He also said “it’s a significant moment and I do want to give it the gravity it deserves.”
“This level of belief in Patreon is proof… that the world is changing,” Conte said. “The stigma of the starving artist is going to fade away.”
Today, Patreon has more than 200,000 creators on the platform who have collectively earned $2 billion to date, directly from their fans, according to Conte. There are about 6 million subscribers (which the company refers to as “patrons”) who use Patreon.
“Moving forward, creators from all over the world will be earning at least $1 billion a year on Patreon,” Conte said in a blog post.
With the $90 million in new funding, San Francisco-based Patreon plans to focus on three key areas: continued expansion internationally with support for more currencies; “enhancing the patron experience”; and helping creators grow their audience with search discovery tools, Conte wrote.
New Patreon features in development include updated messaging features; allowing patrons to engage with each other; and “more opportunities to physically show support of a creator in the form of more merchandise,” according to Conte.
The Series E funding brings Patreon, founded in 2013, to a total of $255 million raised to date. The latest round was co-led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Wellington Management with new investor Lone Pine. Patreon’s previous round was led by Gladebrook Capital, which also invested the latest round. Its other previous investors are Thrive Capital, DFJ Growth and Index Ventures.
Source: Yahoo
