Discord has been considering an IPO for years. In 2021, it rejected a reported $10bn takeover bid by Microsoft.
Popular chatting platform Discord has confidentially filed for an initial public offering (IPO), reports Bloomberg, citing sources close to the matter.
The company has been considering an IPO for years. Last year, sources told Bloomberg that Discord was working with Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan Chase on the listing.
However, the company could still ultimately decide not to follow on with the listing.
Founded in 2015, Discord has grown to become a very popular chat platform globally with more than 200m global monthly active users. It offers free texting, voice and video chatting services with added perks for premium ‘Nitro’ users. 90pc of Discord users play video games, a cohort the platform primarily markets itself towards.
Discord had raised $500m at a $15bn valuation in 2021 in a round led by Dragoneer Investment Group with participation from Baillie Gifford, Coatue Management, Fidelity Investments and Franklin Templeton.
The same year, the platform reportedly rejected a takeover bid from Microsoft valued at $10bn.
Similar to many social media and chatting sites, Discord has come under fire in the past for incidences of child sexual exploitation on the platform.
In 2023, the platform joined the UK’s Internet Watch Foundation and banned teen dating and AI-generated child sexual abuse material after media investigations found illegal activities relating to minors on the site.
Last year, Discord, Roblox, OpenAI and Google announced a new non-profit organisation called Robust Open Online Safety Tools, or ROOST, that aims to build open-source safety tools to tackle the exploitative use of AI to harm people, especially children.
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