For the third time in three years, Patreon has announced a significant funding round. The crowdfunding platform, which assists videomakers, webcomic artists, podcasters, and other creative types through its “patron” system, has announced a $30 million Series B round led by Thrive Capital.
On Patreon, creators encourage their fans to become patrons by asking them to contribute donations that kick in when specific goals are met or after a certain period of time elapses. In the YouTube community, for example, some popular channels bring in thousands of dollars per month thanks to their patrons, and as a result, Patreon has emerged as a viable moneymaking tool for the online video industry’s creative class.
With its new capital, Patreon plans to build out more services to help its creative users better interact with their patrons. “Creators are essentially running small media companies and they need tools to be successful,” reads a press release from Patreon. These tools will cover “analytics, better communication tools, better reward management and more.”
Subscribe to get the latest creator news
Patreon, which was co-founded by YouTube content creator Jack Conte in 2013, initially raised $2.1 million to build its crowdfunding platform. The company’s next funding round, a $15 million Series A it announced in 2014, allowed it to grow its team and its scale; it now has 50 employees and a user base of more than 17,000 creators.
Beyond Thrive Capital, Patreon’s Series B also included participation from Allen and Company and follow on investments by Charles River Ventures, Index Ventures, Accomplice, and Freestyle Capital, according to the press release.
