On Wednesday, Reddit, a social networking platform, announced that it had filed a confidential application with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a tentative initial public offering (IPO).
Reddit, famed for its discussion boards that became the go-to destination for day traders during this year’s meme stock mania, was looking at a valuation of more than $15 billion.
As of October of last year, Reddit has more than 50 million daily active users and over 100,000 communities or sub-reddits.
The price range or an exact number of shares to be offered of the IPO were not disclosed in the statement by Reddit.
Reddit, which was co-founded by Alexis Ohanian and is now run by CEO Steve Huffman, was recently valued at $10 billion in a transaction led by Fidelity Management and Research Company LLC in August. In a private funding round earlier this year, the company was valued at $10 billion.
Sequoia Capital, Fidelity Investments, Tencent Holdings, and Andreessen Horowitz are among its most significant investors.
Retail investors flocked to the San Francisco-based firm’s message boards for trading advice on GameStop Corp and other meme stocks.
Tencent’s significant position in Reddit’s $300 million Series D raised concerns that the community network will be censored in 2019. However, its financial success has been aided by the buzz generated on Reddit. Reddit’s advertising income surpassed $100 million in the second quarter.
