When will Reddit go public already?

Reddit announced yesterday that it had raised $410 million in funding led by Fidelity Investments; it’s planning to reel in another $290 million from pre-existing investors (and potentially some new ones, too) to finish off the Series F round. That would bring the company a $10 billion valuation—up from $6 billion in February. As a reminder, Sequoia Capital, Tencent Holdings, and Andreessen Horowitz are some of its other large backers.

The social media platform has sure had its moment in the spotlight this year, particularly with the r/WallStreetBets and GameStop debacle—which, by the way, led to Reddit CEO Steve Huffman testifying before the House Financial Services Committee, where he tenderly pointed out that he was proud of Redditors for raising “important issues about fairness and opportunity in our financial system,” even though they may look “sophomoric or chaotic from the outside.”

Not to mention, Reddit has made several key hires this year: It brought on Drew Vollero as CFO, who helped take Snap public. Then there’s former Instagram exec Timo Pelz, Duolingo’s Laura Nestler, and Bank of America’s Allison Miller.

All the above begs the question: Is Reddit going to IPO already?

It’s no secret Reddit has been planning for it. Huffman has been mentioning it’s in the cards for years. Back at the end of 2017, he said it was inevitable, and that it may happen by 2020. He’s been discussing it again this year after hiring Vollero, and now with the fresh round of funding.

“All good companies should go public when they can,” Huffman told the Times yesterday, which, by the way, I found to be a little awkward of him to say considering that Fidelity, its main backer in this fundraising round, is one of the largest private companies in the world.

It’s also worth noting that some of Reddit’s competitors are doing really well on the exchanges right now. Facebook is up more than 34% from January as I write this, Snap is up more than 50%, and Twitter is up more than 19%. “Its peers are trading at near all time highs,” Matt Kennedy, senior IPO market strategist at Renaissance Capital, tells me. “It could get a very attractive valuation in the public markets.”

An IPO is clearly in the cards … so when? Kennedy says 2021 would probably be too aggressive at this point, but early 2022 sounds like a real possibility.

To be sure, it can take a lot of time: There’s all the paperwork and new disclosure requirements, getting a board in order, and prepping the legal team. 

“To go out successfully, there’s a lot of work between here and there and a lot of things we need to do,” Huffman recently told the Wall Street Journal.

Either way, Reddit has its hands full with plans for the fresh capital. Video is becoming an increasingly significant part of Reddit’s business, a spokeswoman tells me, and they’re continuing to build out its existing video and audio offerings for creators and viewers. Reddit Talk, a live conversation feature, is currency in alpha testing. It acquired a short-form video social platform Dubsmash in December. The community platform is also expanding like crazy. It hit 1,000 employees last quarter, and hopes to add another 400 by the end of this year. 

Regardless of when it does decide to (finally) make a public debut, it’s evident Reddit’s executives have learned a thing or two about raising capital since the early days, when selling t-shirts was a go-to, and didn’t work out too well. Video has also come a long way.

IN OTHER NEWS: Coins2Day is currently offering magazine subscription discounts to Term Sheeters. Plug in the code TERMSHEET at this link to get 50% off your annual subscription.

Lucinda will be back on Monday. Thanks for letting me pop in for a couple days out of the SEC filings.

Cheers!

Jessica Mathews
Twitter: @jessicakmathews
Email:  [email protected]

Anne Sraders curated today’s Term Sheet. Jessica Mathews compiled the IPO and SPAC sections of this newsletter.

VENTURE DEALS

​-  Carta, a San Francisco-based cap table and equity management platform, raised $500 million in Series G funding led by Silver Lake. 

​​-  VerSe Innovation, an India-based local language technology company known for its TikTok-like app Josh and content aggregator Dailyhunt, raised $450 million in Series I funding from investors including Siguler Guff, Baillie Gifford, Carlyle Asia Partners, Sofina Group, Qatar Investment Authority, and B Capital Group. 

​​-  TaxBit, a Salt Lake City and Seattle-based provider of cryptocurrency tax and accounting software, raised $130 million in Series B funding. IVP and Insight Partners led the round and were joined by investors including Tiger Global, Paradigm, 9Yards Capital, Sapphire Ventures, Madrona Venture Group, and Anthony Pompliano.

- Agora, a San Francisco-based construction procurement platform for contractors, raised $33 million in Series B funding. Tiger Global led the round and was joined by investors including 8VC, DST, LeFrak, and individual investors. 

- Cirkul, a Tampa, Fla.-based company that makes water bottles and flavor cartridges intended to get people to drink more water, raised $30 million in Series B funding. AF Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Siddhi Capital and SC.Holdings.

- Aforza, a London-based cloud and mobile app developer for consumer goods businesses, raised $22 million in Series A funding. DN Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Bonfire Ventures, Daher Capital, and Next47.

- Wonder Brands, a Mexico-based firm that acquires and partners with ecommerce companies that sell through MercadoLibre and Amazon, raised $20 million in seed funding. ALLVP and Mountain Nazca led the round and were joined by investors including CoVenture, Victory Park Capital GFC, QED, Korify Capital, and Endeavor Catalyst.

- Graphite Solutions, a San Francisco-based platform that connects businesses with on-demand independent consultants, raised $15 million in funding. Valor Siren Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Communitas Capital Partners, Accomplice, Alumni Ventures Group and Cianna Capital.

- Aalto, a San Francisco-based home marketplace that connects buyers with sellers, raised $13 million Series A funding. Sequoia Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Background Capital, Defy Partners, and Maple VC.

​​-  Motivo, a Palo Alto-based developer of AI-powered design solutions to speed up the time it takes to design chips and improve yields, raised $12.5 million in Series A funding. Intel Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Storm Ventures, Seraph Group, and Inventus Capital.

​​-  Trust, a Los Angeles-based corporate card startup to help small businesses with marketing investments, raised $9 million in seed funding from Lerer Hippeau, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Upfront Ventures, and Upper90.

​​-  Blue J, a Toronto-based provider of predictive analytics software for tax and employment law, raised $9 million in Series B funding. Generation Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Relay Ventures, Mistral Venture Partners, and LDV Partners.

-  Smashcut, a Montclair, N.J.-based online learning platform for media-based courses, raised $7 million in Series A funding from Pearson Ventures.

​​-  StatusPRO, a Miami-based sports training technology company that uses data, augmented and virtual reality, raised $5.2 million in seed funding. KB Partners and TitletownTech led the round and were joined by investors including Greycroft, Verizon Ventures, Haslam Sports Group, 49ers Enterprises, and SC Holdings.

​​-  Aviron, a Toronto-based maker of interactive rowing machines, raised $4.5 million in funding from investors including Samsung Next, Formic Ventures, GFC, and Y Combinator.

- Contact, a booking platform for models and creatives, raised £1.4 million ($1.9 million) in seed funding, per TechCrunch. Founders Fund led the round and was joined by investors including LAUNCH, Sweet Capital, Rogue VC and angel investors. 

PRIVATE EQUITY

- Hellman & Friedman acquired Zooplus, a Germany-based pet supplies retailer, for €3 billion ($3.5 billion) in a takeover offer.

- L Catterton agreed to acquire a majority stake in Beauty Industry Group, a Salt Lake City-based hair extension products company. Existing investors HGGC, CEO Derrick Porter, and the company’s management team reinvested as part of the deal to maintain a minority stake. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

- CDPQ acquired a minority stake in Beyond Technologies, a Montréal-based SAP solutions integrator. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. 

- Warburg Pincus and existing investor FTV Capital invested in A-LIGN, a Tampa, Fla.-based cybersecurity and compliance solutions provider. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. 

- Newfold Digital, backed by Clearlake Capital Group and Siris Capital Group, acquired Yoast, a Netherlands-based search engine optimization (SEO) plugin for WordPress. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. 

- Salt Creek Capital acquired Capital Building Maintenance, a San Francisco-based provider of commercial window and pressure washing, construction cleaning, and building maintenance services. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. 

- Spine & Sport Physical Therapy, backed by Great Point Partners, acquired Envision Sport Physical Therapy & Pilates, an Orange County-based physical therapy and rehab center. Financial terms weren't disclosed. 

EXIT

- U.S. Bank (NYSE: USB) agreed to acquire Bento for Business, a Chicago and San Francisco-based small and mid-size business spending management and payments company, from Edison Partners. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. 

OTHER

- Authentic Brands Group agreed to acquire Reebok, the Boston-based shoe and sportswear brand, from Adidas for up to €2.1 billion ($2.5 billion) in a majority cash deal. 

- Lojas Americanas agreed to acquire Hortifruti Natural da Terra, a Brazil-based grocery and fresh produce chain, for 2.1 billion reais ($402 million). 

- ChargePoint Holdings (NYSE:CHPT) acquired ViriCiti, a Netherlands-based electric fleet management platform, for roughly €75 million ($88 million) in cash. 

- ServiceNow Inc will acquire Mapwize, a France-based indoor mapping company used by employees for things like navigating and reserving office space. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.  

- Labcorp (NYSE: LH) acquired Ovia Health, a Boston-based digital health platform for family planning, pregnancy and parenting resources. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. 

IPO

- Olam International Ltd., a Singapore-based global food and agriculture supplier, plans to raise about $2.8 billion in a London IPO, per Reuters.

- PT Pertamina Bina Medika IHC, a state-owned hospital holding company in Indonesia, is working with an investment bank to raise funding ahead of a planned IPO, per Bloomberg.

SPAC

- HERBL, a Santa-Rosa, Calif.-based cannabis supply chain solutions company, is in talks to go public via a merger with BGP Acquisition, a SPAC led by BGP Advisors partner Ruth Epstein, per Reuters. A deal would value the company at $600 million.

- Memic Innovative Surgery, a Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based surgical robot company, announced it will go public via a merger with MedTech Acquisition Corp., a SPAC.

F+FS

- Summit Partners, a Boston-based growth equity firm, is targeting roughly $7 billion for its 11th growth strategy, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

- Lowercarbon Capital, a climate-focused venture vehicle from investor Chris Sacca, raised $800 million to invest in climate tech.