Online message board operator Reddit has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) with U.S. securities regulators.
Media reports say the company is hoping to hit a valuation of more than $15 billion U.S. from listing its shares on a stock exchange.
The company's message boards were at the heart of a battle earlier this year between retail traders and big Wall Street firms that drove outsized gains in highly shorted shares of companies such as GameStop (GME) and AMC (AMC), while popularizing the term “meme stocks.”
At the height of the trading frenzy in February, Reddit's value doubled to $6 billion from a year earlier. The company was valued at $10 billion in a private fundraising round in August of this year.
On Reddit thread “WallStreetBets” some users joked about potentially pumping up the IPO when it happens.
Founded in 2005 by Steve Huffman and entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian, Reddit had roughly 52 million daily active users and over 100,000 communities, or “sub-Reddits” as of October.
The San Francisco-based company reported $100 million in advertising revenue in the second quarter, an almost threefold jump from the same period last year.
Reddit's investors over the years have included venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, funds such as Sequoia Capital and rapper Snoop Dogg.
Reddit did not disclose the number of shares to be offered or the price range of the IPO in its draft registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The exact date of the IPO is not yet known, but is expected in the first half of 2022.
