Substack has announced it raised $100 million in a Series C funding round. This funding round was led by investors at BOND and The Chernin Group (TCG), and included participation from Andreessen Horowitz; Rich Paul, CEO and founder of Klutch Sports Group; and Jens Grede, CEO and co-founder of Skims. According to the New York Times, this brings its valuation to $1.1 billion, almost 70% higher than its 2021 valuation of $650 million.
Substack, which calls itself “a new economic vehicle for change,” is a platform for video, writing, podcasts, and creator-centered communities, all powered by subscriptions. Founded in 2017, the platform has since gained popularity as a platform for creators and publishers to monetize their content.
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The co-founders of Substack, Chris Best, Hamish McKenzie, and Jairaj Sethi stated their plans for the platform via The Substack Post. “At Substack, we believe the heroes of culture are the ones who shape it. Technology should serve them, not the other way around. That’s why we’re building tools and a network to protect their independence, amplify their voices, and foster deep and direct relationships. These are the people who will lead us to a better culture, and a future we can believe in.” They also said that the funding was a chance to “get behind” those people by investing in better tools, broader reach, and deeper support for the writers and creators driving Substack’s ecosystem. “Already, hundreds of millions of dollars flow from audiences to creators there every year. Millions use the app weekly, and pay for the work they discover. But this is just the beginning,” they added.
The co-founders also said they would be “doubling down” on the Substack app, which they claim is designed to help audiences reclaim their attention and connect with the creators they care about.
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Earlier this year, Substack announced it has surpassed five million paid subscriptions on its platform, up from two million in 2023. Best also mentioned that “more than 50 people were making over $1 million on Substack,” at The Information’s “Future of Influence” event in Los Angeles. He also said Substack was “accidentally cash flow positive” in the first quarter of this year, but isn’t planning to be profitable soon. “We’re focused on growth,” he said. “It turns out that when you do that, it makes the business grow really well, too.”
Substack has recently attracted a slew of high-profile journalists and creators from traditional outlets, such as former CNN anchor Jim Acosta, former ABC journalist Terry Moran and former MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid. This has boosted the platform’s popularity among established journalists. These high-profile journalists have amassed large followings — Jim Acosta, for example, has gained more than 10,000 paid subscribers to his Substack just weeks after leaving CNN in January.