Discord, a social communications platform popular with video-game players and programmers, is working with Goldman Sachs Group and JPMorgan Chase & Co. on an initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter.
The company could seek a stock market listing as soon as this year, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Discord’s plans for an IPO, including the timing, could still change, the people said. The company could also add other advisers as its plans evolve.
Representatives for Discord, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan declined to comment.
Discord had previously considered going public via a direct listing rather than a traditional IPO, Bloomberg News reported in 2022. Last year, its chief executive officer said the company would “probably go public,” but didn’t give details or a time frame.
Founded in 2015, San Francisco-based Discord was originally a voice and text chat app for gamers to discuss their strategies. Its popularity soared during the coronavirus pandemic, and in 2021, the company rejected a $12 billion takeover offer from Microsoft Corp., people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg at the time.
Between 2020 and 2024, Discord’s revenue quadrupled to more than $600 million on an annualized basis, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg. The company makes money by charging $3 to $10 for monthly subscriptions for premium features like custom emoji and larger content upload sizes — a product called Nitro that’s doing “remarkably well,” said Chief Technology Officer Stanislav Vishnevskiy during an interview in March at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.
Video game companies also pay Discord to advertise games. Last week, Discord launched its Social SDK, which integrates the chat app’s social features into video games like Scopely Inc.’s Marvel Strike Force.
Discord’s long-term goal is to be “at the center of gaming,” and to help video game companies find audiences, Vishnevskiy said.
The company’s backers include Index Ventures, Greylock Partners, Benchmark, Accel and Spark Capital. It has raised $1.1 billion in financing to date and was last valued at $14.7 billion after a funding round in 2021, according to data provider PitchBook.
Discord has faced scrutiny around the world as regulators seek more control over digital platforms. In the US, the chat app has sometimes been used as a meeting place for extremists, while Russia and Turkey have banned use of the app.
