Reddit's Valuation Has Risen To $6 Billion
In two years since the company was valued at $3 billion, the so-called “front page of the [...]
In two years since the company was valued at $3 billion, the so-called "front page of the internet" has seemingly doubled its worth according to a new report. The Wall Street Journal brings word of Reddit now being valued at $6 billion, thanks in part to a new round of funding by film Vy Capital. This marks the latest headlines made by Reddit after extensive growth during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as well as the continuing saga of the GameStop stock situation (which began on the r/WallStreetBets subreddit). Reddit CEO Steve Huffman revealed to WSJ, "Valuations are very high right now. It never hurts to raise money when there's an opportunity to do so and Reddit had a strong year."
The six billion valuation for Reddit might come as a surprise to readers after the company's last minute Super Bowl commercial which premiered on Sunday. Totaling just five seconds in length, the ad began like a stereotypical Super Bowl ad with some cars driving along a road, only to cut to a wall of text and then abruptly end before the entire thing could be read. The first two lines of the wall of text read: "Wow, this actually worked. If you're reading this, it means our bet paid off."
The text in the ad continued: "Big game spots are expensive, so we couldn't buy a full one. But we were inspired and decided to spend our entire marketing budget on 5 seconds of airtime. 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."
"Who knows, maybe you'll be the reason finance textbooks have to add a chapter on 'tendies.' Maybe you'll help r/SuperbOwl teach the world about the majesty of owls. Maybe you've even pause this 5-second ad. Powerful things happen when people rally around something they really care about. And there's a place for that. It's called Reddit."
In a blog post at the conclusion of 2020 (written with data reflecting the site as of November 6, 2020), Reddit revealed their tremendous growth over the year which included 52 million daily active users (up 44% year over year), 303.4 million total posts (up 52.4% year over year), 2 billion comments (up 18.6% year over year), and 49.2 billion upvotes (up 53.8% year over year). The most upvoted post on the platform last year was a photo from legendary singer Rick Astley.