Friday Fundings: Fanatics, Trendyol, Reddit

Sports Merchandise Startup Raises $325 Million

Fanatics, a sports merchandise startup, raised $325 million in venture funding, giving it a valuation of $18 billion. New investors in the startup include rapper Jay-Z and his entertainment company Roc Nation. Existing investors like Major League Baseball and PE firm Silver Lake also participated in the round.

Fanatics made a name for itself selling sports clothing and memorabilia over the internet. It also operates a handful of physical stores. The company is trying to expand its business, recently launching nonfungible token company Candy Digital. Fanatics is using the money from the fundraising round to morph into a digital-platform operator. It is offering a variety of services including sports betting and ticketing.

Turkish Ecommerce Startup Completes Massive Fundraising Round

Turkey-based ecommerce company Trendyol raised $1.5 billion in a huge venture-funding round, giving the startup a valuation of $16.5 billion. It is Turkey’s first decacorn, or startup with a valuation of more than $10 billion. The round was co-led by a handful of investors including General Atlantic, Princeville Capital, as well as ADQ and Qatar Investment Authority, two sovereign wealth funds. A few months ago, Trendyol raised $350 million at a valuation of $9.4 billion.

Trendyol is the leading ecommerce player in Turkey with over 30 million shoppers. It melds ecommerce with grocery and food delivery, delivering a million packages per day. Proceeds from the capital raise will go to expand in Turkey and internationally.

Reddit Raises $410 Million

Message-board operator Reddit raised $410 million in venture funding, propelling its valuation to over $10 billion. The funding round is still open and is expected to swell to $700 million. Reddit is using the funding to improve the site navigation for users and to grow internationally. Reddit is eyeing an initial public offering in the future but has not set a timeframe. Earlier in 2021 Reddit raised $250 million in venture funding at a valuation of $6 billion.

Reddit’s advertising revenue of $100 million in the second quarter is up 192% year-over-year. It has about 52 million daily users and over 100,000 active “sub-reddits.” It is also in growth mode, aiming to double its employee headcount by the end of the year.

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