Discord is an instant messaging software that has over 140 million active users and more than 300 million registered accounts.
The company gained significant market share during the COVID-19 pandemic and has since become a staple platform for gamers and crypto users alike. The company enjoyed a 750% gain to its quarterly revenue between Q1 2020 and Q1 2023.
Unfortunately for investors who are seeking to gain exposure to Discord, the company remains a fully private entity. However, Discord has reportedly been planning its IPO date for the past two years and may be waiting for more favorable market conditions before it makes its shares available on the stock market.
Here is everything that investors need to know about the upcoming Discord IPO date.
About Discord
Discord evolved from a failing gaming platform into one of the most popular instant messaging software in the world. Jason Citron, the company’s founder, made the decision to strip his new game down to the bare bones after it struggled to attract new players and pivoted to a real-time communication platform instead.
The company that created Discord, Hammer & Chisel, was a game development studio. Discord found a strong product-market fit by connecting gamers together in more ways than ever before, enabling smooth instant messaging and lossless voice chat so that players could collaborate better in multiplayer titles.
At the time, Citron had noticed that existing voice chat services such as Skype would frequently lag. This caused major problems for the user experience in the context of gaming, where it’s important that team members are in sync with the gameplay experience.
After gaining initial traction in the gaming community, Discord eventually started to expand to other industries. One major example is that crypto companies often connect their token holders in Discord chats, helping to bring the decentralized user base together into a central chatroom for discussion.
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 helped Discord to gain market share and the crypto bull market of 2021 drove even more users to the platform. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) had also opened discussions to buy Discord for $10 billion in early 2021, but Discord later reported that discussions were off the table.
As things stand, Discord remains in the control of its founding members as a fully private company. In September 2021, Discord received $500 million in an investment round that was led by Dragoneer Investment Group, and the company reportedly had a $15 billion valuation at that time.
Quarterly Discord revenue from in-app purchases, showing rapid adoption between 2020 and 2021. Image via Statista.
How to invest in Discord?
At the moment, Discord is a private company. However, there are rumors circulating that there may be a Discord IPO date announced soon. Discord is expected to open itself up to public investment on the stock market in 2023, but this has yet to be confirmed by the company.
With a Discord IPO expected in the near future, there are several ways that investors can prepare. Discord shares will likely be available on either NYSE or NASDAQ after the IPO, so investors will be able to gain investment exposure through a standard brokerage account.
Investors may also be able to participate in the IPO itself by creating an account with a major broker. Fidelity could be a good option, as the company already owns Discord stock after a private investment.
Will there be a Discord IPO?
The Discord IPO date was initially expected for 2022, but was pushed back to 2023 due to market conditions. It is widely believed that Discord will be announcing an official IPO date soon, and there will be multiple ways to gain exposure to the company if and when this happens.
How to invest in Discord FAQs
Is Discord on the stock market?
Discord is not currently available on the stock market. The company has hosted several private investment rounds and has a variety of shareholders at major investment firms, but the public is not currently able to trade Discord stock on the open market.
Who owns Discord now?
Discord remains in the control of its founding members, with co-founders Jason Citron and Stanislav Vishnevskiy thought to own a significant share between them. Other major stakeholders include Fidelity, Dragoneer Investment Group, Baillie Gifford, and Sony.
When is the Discord IPO date?
The Discord IPO date is expected to be announced in the near future, however, this remains conjecture at this point in time. Discord was planning on announcing its IPO date for 2022 and later pushed back the announcement to 2023.
With just 2 months left of 2023 remaining at the time of writing, it seems as though investors may need to wait a little longer before the Discord IPO date is officially announced.
The bottom line: Discord is not a publicly traded company, but there are plans for a Discord IPO date
Despite not being available on the stock market at this moment in time, Discord is reportedly planning on launching its IPO soon. There are several ways that investors can prepare for a Discord IPO date, including by setting up a brokerage account at a firm that already has Discord exposure, Fidelity.
Fidelity is able to provide its customers with access to IPOs. Since it also has a stake in Discord, setting up a brokerage account with Fidelity may be the best way to prepare for the Discord IPO date as it could give investors pre-IPO access.
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Source: https://coincodex.com/article/33329/discord-stock/