Patreon now valued at $4bn after latest funding round

7 Apr 2021

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The $155m funding round was led by Tiger Global and will be invested in further expansion as more creators flock to the platform.

Creator platform Patreon has tripled its valuation to $4bn after its latest funding round.

The $155m investment was led by Tiger Global Management and follows its $90m round last September that first pushed it over the billion-dollar valuation mark.

Several other investors participated in this latest round of funding, including Woodline Partners and existing backers Wellington Management, Lone Pine Capital, New Enterprise Associates, Glade Brook Capital and DFJ Growth. The investment was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Patreon helps artists, musicians, podcasters and other creators to monetise their work by connecting them with their audience for subscriptions or donations, with the company taking a slice in between.

The company said that there is a boom in the creator economy, which it is calling the ‘Second Renaissance’, facilitated by tech platforms and new novelties like NFTs. Other companies have taken cues from Patreon as well, with Twitter rolling out new features for payments and subscriptions that are very similar.

According to Patreon, its platform has seen a surge in usage over the last year during Covid-19. It said it has more than 200,000 creators on its platform that earn more than $100m a month through 7m patrons.

In a blog post, the company said that its new valuation “is proof of the incredible power and potential of creators, and of building this new economy”.

“With these additional resources, we’re going to continue focusing on three key areas: enhancing the patron and creator experiences on both mobile and desktop; adding new content consumption tools; and going global.”

Headquartered in San Francisco, Patreon also has offices in Dublin, New York and Omaha. Its Dublin office includes product management functions for ensuring creators get paid.

In January, The Information reported that the seven-year-old company is considering going public as soon as this year.

Jonathan Keane is a freelance business and technology journalist based in Dublin

editorial@siliconrepublic.com