(CelebrityAccess) – Creator subscription platform Patreon has raised an additional $60 million in late-stage funding from investors, co-founder and CEO Jack Conte announced Tuesday (July 16).
This new Series D round is led by late-stage investors Glade Brook Capital, with participation from prior investors Thrive Capital, Initialized, Index Ventures, DFJ, Freestyle Capital, Charles River Ventures, and Otherwise. Also joining the funding round are the first creator/artist investors including Serj Tankian and Hannibal Buress.
The company says the new funds will be used to fuel international growth and more customization, and “to take creator memberships to a whole new level.”
“Patreon fulfills a unique need for creators, leveraging the deep, personal connections they’ve fostered with their fans to get them paid for the value of their work,” Conte wrote in a blog post.
“We’re building better ways for creators to deliver digital benefits like secure audio, video, and image galleries. And we’re making sure those benefits are easy for patrons to find and enjoy wherever they are. To that end, we are rethinking our mobile experience to make connecting with creators and receiving benefits streamlined and convenient. Our new Merch for Membership, which includes full-service fulfillment for creators, will expand faster and further with international shipping and more items to choose from.”
He added: “We’ll also be enhancing the connection between creators and patrons. First, we’re making the creator page more customizable so creators can tell their story, their way, and make it easier for their fans to understand what’s unique about their membership program. We’ll also give creators and their patrons better ways to engage, both one on one and as a community.”
The cash will also help fuel the company’s international growth by building on its recently-opened offices in Porto, Portugal, and Dublin, Ireland.
Launched in 2013, Patreon has more than 3 million active patrons and 100,000 creators on the platform. The company has raised $2.1 million of seed funding, adding another $15 million in mid-2014. By the end of 2019, Conte says the company expects to have paid out more than $1 billion to its worldwide network of creators, which have included Amanda Palmer and Pentatonix along with Zola Jesus, Jacob Collier and Ben Folds among others.
