Slack is now worth more than Yelp, Vox Media, and Warby Parker — combined
Slack is raking in the dough.
The messaging platform said Tuesday that it raised $427 million in a new round of funding, CNBC reports, pushing it to a total of $1.26 billion in funding. The company is now worth more than $7.1 billion. Less than a year ago, it was worth $5 billion.
The new valuation pushes Slack into the upper echelons of Silicon Valley's newest tech start-ups. Since launching in 2014, the company has attracted 8 million users, with 3 million paying subscribers. The platform, often used for professional organization and collaboration, has already absorbed one of its biggest competitors and has promised to keep growing for at least a year before going public.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
That means Slack is now worth more than Vox Media ($1 billion), Yelp ($3.68 billion), and Warby Parker ($1.75 billion) combined, nearly as much as Squarespace ($1.7 billion), The New York Times ($3.9 billion), and ZocDoc ($1.8 billion) combined, and more than twice as much as Oscar Health ($3 billion).
Whether the joy of sending emojis and GIFs to coworkers is worth billions of dollars is debatable, but the company has made a strong case for itself as a replacement for workplace email. It plans to take on big competitors like Google and Microsoft next, and its 40 percent growth in just one year has executives excited about the future. "We pursued this additional investment to ... take advantage of the massive opportunity in front of us," the company said in the announcement. Read more at the Financial Times.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.
-
The best homes of the year
Feature Featuring a grand turret entrance in New York and built-in glass elevator in Arizona
By The Week Staff Published
-
Nordstrom family, investor to take retail chain private
Speed Read The business will be acquired by members of the family and El Puerto de Liverpool, a Mexican real estate company
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden commutes most federal death sentences
Speed Read The president downgraded the punishment of 37 of 40 prisoners on death row to life in prison without parole
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Judges block $25B Kroger-Albertsons merger
Speed Read The proposed merger between the supermarket giants was stalled when judges overseeing two separate cases blocked the deal
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Rupert Murdoch loses 'Succession' court battle
Speed Read Murdoch wanted to give full control of his empire to son Lachlan, ensuring Fox News' right-wing editorial slant
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Bitcoin surges above $100k in post-election rally
Speed Read Investors are betting that the incoming Trump administration will embrace crypto
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Enron mystery: 'sick joke' or serious revival?
Speed Read 23 years after its bankruptcy filing, the Texas energy firm has announced its resurrection
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US charges Indian tycoon with bribery, fraud
Speed Read Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has been indicted by US prosecutors for his role in a $265 million scheme to secure solar energy deals
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Boeing machinists approve contract, end strike
Speed Read The company's largest union approved the new contract offer, ending a seven-week strike
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US economy still strong in final preelection report
Speed Read It grew at a solid 2.8% annual rate from July through September
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Boeing machinists reject deal, continue strike
Speed Read The rejection came the same day Boeing reported a $6.2 billion quarterly loss
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published