https://archive.is/2025.03.06-011758/https://www.ft.com/content/4ab9efe7-36bc-44ff-b2cd-06eb2c38203a

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Gaming chat platform Discord in early talks with banks about public listing

US group has sought to broaden its appeal to a mass audience

Discord co-founder and chief executive Jason Citron

Video game developer Jason Citron founded Discord in 2015 © Kimberly White/Getty Images/TechCrunch

Discord is in early talks with banks about a public listing, according to people familiar with the matter, in a sign of a possible revival in the sluggish US IPO market.

Founded in 2015 by video game developer Jason Citron, Discord offers multi-person voice, video and text-based spaces to its 200mn global monthly active users.

The San Francisco gaming chat platform was considering listing as early as 2021, according to people familiar with the matter. However, many technology companies and investors have put their IPO plans on hold due to political and market uncertainty.

That is expected to change this year as interest rates have fallen and US President Donald Trump has laid out a more tech-friendly regulatory agenda.

Discord was last valued at about $15bn in a 2021 fundraising, according to PitchBook. The company’s revived IPO plans remain subject to change, one of the people said.

“We understand there is a lot of interest around Discord’s future plans, but we do not comment on rumours or speculation,” the company said in a statement shared with the Financial Times. “Our focus remains on delivering the best possible experience for our users and building a strong, sustainable business.”

CoreWeave, an artificial intelligence cloud computing provider, filed for a New York IPO this month that would raise about $4bn and value the group at more than $35bn, which could make it the largest tech flotation of the year.

A series of valuable start-ups, including fintech groups Stripe and Chime and data platform Databricks that had been forced to stay private far longer than planned are expected to reignite plans to list their shares.

Discord initially found popularity among gamers, as well as retail trading and cryptocurrency communities, but has since sought to broaden its appeal to a mass audience.

The company has largely shunned advertising, in contrast to larger rivals such as Meta, X and Reddit, in favour of offering its users premium features for a fee.

In 2021, it attracted interest from multiple Big Tech groups, rebuffing a $12bn takeover bid from Microsoft. The recent IPO plans were first reported by The New York Times.

  • Maestro@fedia.io
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    15 hours ago

    I really detest people abusing Discord like an unsearchable wiki with dozens of (locked) channels filled with sticky posts.

    • Zahille7@lemmy.world
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      9 hours ago

      I have no idea how someone could use it for that.

      The amount of people who spam messages in the boards is absolutely fucking insane. They’ll do that thing where they make it seem like they’re taking pauses or whatever when they’re putting breaks. Example:

      Did you guys know?

      That when you need to refill your characters ammo

      You can reload by pressing R?

      And other shit like that, but way worse and even shorter messages each time. I only use discord to keep up to date with early access games, or some communities that I’m a part of (YouTubers, and multiplayer communities like Project Zomboid servers). My job also uses discord to communicate (we’re a small company but with people around the country).

      • Katana314@lemmy.world
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        2 hours ago

        You’ve renewed my idea for setting up a Discord server that literally bans zero-effort Twitch style chat messages. Each time someone hits enter, they must be conveying a human thought. Exceptions provided for reactions, which are a specific feature, but that’s it.

        • Zahille7@lemmy.world
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          1 hour ago

          I mean you can enable “slow mode” in certain channels which puts you on a timer after sending a message. I think it’s configurable too.