Dragoneer Expected to Lead Discord Round at $15 Billion Value

(Bloomberg) -- Dragoneer Investment Group is expected to lead an investment that would value popular video game chat platform Discord Inc. at around $15 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. 

The round is expected to include participation by several existing investors, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information was private. The financing is set to raise at least $500 million, one of the people said.

The investment hasn’t been finalized and the details could still change, the people said.

A representative for Discord declined to comment. A spokesperson for Dragoneer didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Some details of the financing talks were reported earlier by Eric Newcomer’s technology newsletter.

Discord, which was last valued at $7 billion in a financing round last year, says it has more than 150 million monthly active users who visit its platform for voice, video and text communications. Its users have expanded beyond its core gaming community to schools and social groups. 

Its strong growth has attracted attention from potential suitors. The business spurned buyer interest from Microsoft Corp. who would have paid at least $12 billion for it. The company has also held discussions with Epic Games Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. 

Discord founders Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy launched the business in 2015 and have since received backing from venture firms including Accel, Spark Capital, Benchmark, Index Ventures, General Catalyst and Greylock Partners.

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