A Reddit logo is seen on a smartphone with stock market prices in the background.
Omar Marques | LightRocket | Getty Images
Reddit, which was at the center of a recent social media-driven retail frenzy, said on Monday it had raised more than $ 250 million in a new round of funding that doubled its valuation to $ 6 billion.
The social media company was valued at $ 3 billion after a round of funding in February 2019.
“We have decided that this is the right opportunity to make strategic investments in Reddit, including video, advertising, consumer products and expansion into international markets,” the company said in a blog post.
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman told The Wall Street Journal it’s a good fundraising market.
“The valuations are currently very high. It never hurts to raise money when there is an opportunity to do so, and Reddit has had a strong year,” Huffman said according to the WSJ report.
Reddit, which has more than 50 million active users daily, said in the blog post that advertising revenue had risen 90% in the last quarter from a year earlier.
Video game retailer GameStop and other companies, including cinema operator AMC Entertainment, have seen wild swings in their shares over the past two weeks when amateur investors acted on forums like RedStit’s WallStreetBets to offer shares against which some US funds were betting.
The protest drew the attention of regulators, though U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday it was too early to say whether new policies or regulations would be needed to address the volatility.