Discord
Unicorn · $15BSan Francisco, US · Founded 2015 · Delaware corporation · 60 known investors
Discord is a communications platform for voice, video, and text chat designed primarily for gaming communities and players. It enables game developers to integrate social features directly into games and supports live streaming, custom communities, and in-game activities.
Founders & leadership
Discord was founded in 2015 by Jason Citron and Stanislav Vishnevskiy.
Board
Investors · 60
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Also in the syndicate · 15
Reported raises · per SEC filings
Form D private placements$913.9M disclosed across 6 of 22 rounds · 2015–2023
▶$15.7MraisedMar 2023 · 3 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- Amrita AhujaDirector
- Jason CitronExecutive Officer, Director
- Leslie KilgoreDirector
- Clint SmithExecutive Officer
- Tomasz MarcinkowskiExecutive Officer
- Mitch LaskyDirector
- David SzeDirector
- Stephen GillettDirector
- Danny RimerDirector
- Stanislav VishnevskiyExecutive Officer
- Offering amount
- $15.7M
- Amount sold
- $15.7M
- First sale
- Jan 2023
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$500MraisedSep 2021 · 41 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- Jason CitronExecutive Officer, Director
- David SzeDirector
- Danny c/o Discord Inc. RimerDirector
- Clint SmithExecutive Officer
- Stephen GillettDirector
- Stanislav VishnevskiyExecutive Officer
- Tomasz MarcinkowskiExecutive Officer
- Mitch LaskyDirector
- Offering amount
- $500M
- Amount sold
- $500M
- First sale
- Sep 2021
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$104.1MraisedJul 2021 · 71 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- Stephen GillettDirector
- Danny c/o Discord Inc. RimerDirector
- Clint SmithExecutive Officer
- David SzeDirector
- Jason CitronExecutive Officer, Director
- Stanislav VishnevskiyExecutive Officer
- Mitch LaskyDirector
- Offering amount
- $128.8M
- Amount sold
- $104.1M
- First sale
- Jun 2021
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$100MraisedDec 2020 · 9 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- Jason CitronExecutive Officer, Director
- Mitch LaskyDirector
- Stephen GillettDirector
- David SzeDirector
- Stanislav VishnevskiyDirector, Executive Officer
- Clint SmithExecutive Officer
- Offering amount
- $140M
- Amount sold
- $100M
- First sale
- Dec 2020
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$100MraisedJul 2020 · 14 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- Stephen GillettDirector
- Stanislav VishnevskiyDirector, Executive Officer
- Mitch LaskyDirector
- Jason CitronExecutive Officer, Director
- Josh ElmanDirector
- Les WrightExecutive Officer
- Offering amount
- $101.3M
- Amount sold
- $100M
- First sale
- Jun 2020
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$94MraisedJan 2019 · 11 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
- Les WrightExecutive Officer
- Jason CitronExecutive Officer, Director
- Josh ElmanDirector
- A. Peter RelanDirector
- Offering amount
- $150M
- Amount sold
- $94M
- First sale
- Dec 2018
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
Source: SEC EDGAR Form D. Amounts as filed; amended filings shown once at their latest values.
Valuation · disclosed
Disclosed eventsSource: SEC prospectus filings, and round valuations the company or its investors disclosed — follow each entry's link for the claim.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Discord was founded in 2015 by Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy, who had previously co-founded the mobile-gaming social network OpenFeint (sold to Japan's GREE in 2011 for a reported $104 million) and then built several unsuccessful multiplayer games together, including Fates Forever, under a studio called Hammer & Chisel. Frustrated by the poor state of voice-chat tools available to gamers, the pair pivoted Hammer & Chisel into building a low-latency, reliable voice-and-text app for gamers, launching Discord publicly in May 2015. Early institutional backing came from Benchmark and Tencent, and the app grew quickly through word of mouth in gaming subreddits and among Twitch streamers, crossing 3 million users by January 2016 and 25 million by the end of that year.
Discord's product steadily broadened beyond hardcore gaming servers. A January 2016 ~$20 million round brought in WarnerMedia (then Time Warner) as a strategic backer, and a December 2018 $150 million round led by Greenoaks Capital (with Firstmark, Tencent, IVP, and Index Ventures participating) valued the company at roughly $2 billion. The COVID-19 pandemic proved a major inflection point: in mid-2020 Discord explicitly repositioned itself with a 'Your place to talk' campaign aimed at non-gaming communities — study groups, book clubs, fan communities, and eventually crypto and, later, generative-AI communities (Midjourney famously ran entirely as a Discord bot). Monthly active users roughly doubled in 2020 to around 140 million, and revenue tripled to about $130 million.
2021 was Discord's highest-profile year prior to its IPO push. In March, the company hired its first CFO, Tomasz Marcinkowski (formerly of Pinterest), and by spring, Microsoft was reportedly in acquisition talks that would have valued Discord at roughly $10 billion; Discord ultimately walked away from a deal to remain independent, choosing instead to raise more capital. Sony Interactive Entertainment took a strategic stake in April 2021 tied to planned PlayStation Network integration, and in September 2021 Discord closed a $500 million round that valued the company at approximately $14.7-$15 billion — its last disclosed primary valuation as of mid-2026.
Business model
Freemium consumer platform: the core chat/voice/video product is free; monetization layered on top via subscriptions, virtual goods, and (newly) advertising.
Discord Nitro subscriptions ($2.99-$9.99/mo), Server Boosts, Discord Shop virtual goods/avatar decorations and the 'Orbs' rewards currency, a 10% commission on game/app sales through Discord's developer monetization program, and an emerging advertising business (Quests, sponsored/rewarded ad formats) launched ahead of a potential IPO.
▸Full profile — profile (continued), go-to-market, ownership
Profile (continued)
Growth continued through 2022-2024, with Discord crossing 200 million monthly active users and roughly 19 million weekly-active servers by 2024-2025, and annual revenue climbing from about $309 million (2021) to roughly $725 million (2024) per third-party estimates. The company also weathered growing pains: it made and later unwound acquisitions (Sentropy for AI content moderation in 2021, Ubiquity6 in 2022, the anonymous-compliments app Gas in early 2023, shut down by October 2023), laid off about 170 employees (~17% of staff) in January 2024 citing over-hiring, and faced intensifying regulatory and child-safety scrutiny, including a €800,000 CNIL (French data-protection authority) fine in November 2022 and a CEO appearance before a Congressional child-safety hearing in early 2024.
IPO speculation resurfaced in March 2025 when the New York Times reported Discord was in early talks with investment bankers about going public. Weeks later, on April 23, 2025, co-founder Jason Citron stepped down as CEO after 13 years leading the company, handing the role to Humam Sakhnini, the former Vice Chairman of Activision Blizzard and ex-CEO of King (Candy Crush) — a hire widely read as signaling a push toward advertising- and monetization-driven growth ahead of a public listing. Citron remains a board member and advisor to the new CEO. Through 2025, Discord built out new monetization surfaces (the Orbs virtual-rewards system, Quests advertising units, in-app purchase flows, a developer SDK) and reported positive adjusted EBITDA for five consecutive quarters as of April 2025. The company also disclosed a data breach in October 2025 affecting at least 70,000 users' age-verification documents (government IDs and selfies) via a compromised third-party vendor, adding to ongoing safety and privacy controversy as it rolled out (and repeatedly delayed) mandatory age verification in 2026.
In January 2026, Bloomberg and other outlets reported Discord had confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan as lead underwriters, with TechCrunch reporting a potential public debut as early as March 2026 — though as of this profile's compilation (August 2026), Discord had not yet completed a public listing, and market-condition uncertainty had been cited as a reason for the prior 2025 IPO exploration stalling. Discord's official domain migrated some years ago from the legacy discordapp.com to discord.com, which is the current, correct primary domain.
Go-to-market
Gamers and gaming communities (original base), plus a broad expansion into study groups, creator fandoms, crypto/Web3 and generative-AI communities, hobbyist groups, and increasingly businesses/developers building on the Discord SDK.
Ownership
private
Compiled by commissioned research from 37 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Founder mafia
4 people who came through Discord went on to found or lead other companies.
Competitors · 4
by search overlap
Companies competing with Discord for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Customers & partners
Named customers · 3
Partnerships · 1
Relationships the company or its partners disclosed publicly — case studies, joint announcements, press.
Pricing
as listed May 2026Public list pricing as researched from the company's own pricing pages; negotiated and enterprise terms vary.
Timeline · 37
launches, deals, and filingsAlleged inadequate safeguards against minors' exposure to violence, self-harm and suicide-promoting content in livestreams.
Brazilian National Data Protection Authority · Discord suspended livestream features in Brazil while seeking resolution; potential fines up to R$50m per violation. source ↗
Discord reportedly files confidentially for a U.S. IPO with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan as lead underwriters; TechCrunch reports a possible public market debut as early as March 2026.
Discord reportedly files confidential IPO paperwork with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan as underwriters, targeting a possible March 2026 debut.
A breach at a third-party vendor handling Discord's age-verification appeals exposes government ID photos and selfies for at least 70,000 users.
A breach at a third-party customer-service/age-verification vendor exposes government ID photos and selfies for at least 70,000 Discord users.
Discord names former Activision Blizzard Vice Chairman and King CEO Humam Sakhnini as CEO; co-founder Jason Citron steps down after 13 years, remaining as board member/advisor.
Jason Citron steps down as CEO after 13 years, becoming a CEO Advisor and remaining on the board; Humam Sakhnini, former Activision Blizzard/King executive, becomes CEO amid IPO preparations.
Alleged deceptive and unconscionable representations and practices concerning child safety and age controls.
New Jersey Office of the Attorney General · Pending; Discord disputes the allegations. source ↗
The New York Times reports Discord is in early-stage talks with investment bankers about a potential public offering.
Russia and Turkey both officially block Discord, citing (among other reasons) child-safety concerns.
Discord's leadership joins CEOs from Meta, TikTok, Snap, and X in a Senate hearing on children's online safety.
Discord lays off about 170 employees (~17% of staff), citing over-hiring during prior growth.
Discord lays off 170 people, citing growing too quickly in prior years.
Discord lays off roughly 40 employees (~4%).
Discord acquires teen-focused compliments social app Gas (shut down October 2023).
GDPR security, retention and password/voice-channel configuration shortcomings.
$830K · Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (France) · €800,000 administrative fine; amount converted approximately. source ↗
French data-protection regulator fines Discord over password security and session-handling practices.
Discord raises $500M led by Dragoneer Investment Group, more than doubling its prior-year valuation.
Discord closes a $500 million funding round valuing the company at approximately $14.7-15 billion, its last disclosed primary-round valuation as of mid-2026.
Discord acquires AI-powered anti-harassment/content-moderation company Sentropy to bolster Trust & Safety.
Discord acquires augmented-reality startup Ubiquity6.
Sony makes a strategic investment in Discord and announces plans to integrate Discord with PlayStation.
Reports emerge that Discord had held advanced talks with Microsoft on a ~$10B acquisition but chose to remain independent, exploring an eventual IPO instead.
Reports emerge that Microsoft was in talks to acquire Discord for roughly $10 billion; Discord opts to remain independent and later raises additional capital, including a Sony Interactive Entertainment strategic investment.
Discord launches its 'Your place to talk' campaign to broaden beyond gaming communities and raises a $100 million round including Greylock Partners.
Discord raises further funding as usage broadens beyond gaming during COVID-19; 2020 revenue triples to ~$130M.
Discord raises $150M led by Greenoaks Capital, crossing a $2 billion valuation and 200 million registered users.
Discord raises $150 million led by Greenoaks Capital, valuing the company at roughly $2 billion.
Discord closes a ~$50M round led by Index Ventures with Greylock Partners, IVP, Spark Capital, and Benchmark participating, at a $725M pre-money valuation.
Discord launches under the discordapp.com domain as a purpose-built voice/text chat app for gamers.
Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy launch Discord, pivoting from their earlier game studio Hammer & Chisel after building it as internal voice-chat tooling.
Hammer & Chisel's mobile MOBA Fates Forever failed to gain traction, prompting the pivot toward chat software.
Jason Citron founded game studio Hammer & Chisel, which later pivoted to build Discord.
Jason Citron's prior company OpenFeint, a social gaming network, was acquired by GREE for a reported $104 million.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
Legal entities · 2
corporate structureIn the news
Discord IPO 2026: Valuation, S-1 Filing, Revenue & When It's Happening | Value Add VCvalueaddvc.com · Jul 2026▸Research sources · 37
primary sources listed
- How to use NitroDiscord · pricing page
- Discord appoints Humam Sakhnini CEODiscord · company press release
- Attorney General sues DiscordNew Jersey OAG · government release
- Discord fined €800,000CNIL · regulator release
- About Discord | Mission and storyDiscord · company website
- Discord - CrunchbaseCrunchbase · company database
- Discord | Greylock Partners portfolioGreylock Partners · official investor site
- David Sze profileGreylock Partners · company site
- Discord homepageDiscord, Inc. · company site
37 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Discord do?
- Imagine a place ... Your place to talk and hang out
- Who founded Discord?
- Discord was founded by Jason Citron, Stanislav Vishnevskiy in 2015.
- Who are Discord's investors?
- Discord's investors include Accel, Access Industries, Acquire Fi, Acrew Capital, AppWorks Ventures, Arcane Group, Arrington Capital, Baillie Gifford and 37 more.
- How much funding has Discord raised?
- Discord has disclosed $913.9M raised across 6 of its 22 known rounds.
- Where is Discord headquartered?
- Discord is headquartered in San Francisco, US.