Patreon will take membership to the next level with $60M in funding

July 16, 2019

Our mission is to fund the creative class, and we raised $60M to build a best-in-class, global membership platform to do just that. Read on for details.


We raised $60M to take creator memberships to a whole new level

I speak for the whole Patreon team when I say how excited we are to announce that Patreon raised a $60M Series D to continue our mission to fund the creative class through membership. We’re six years into building Patreon and it’s become obvious to the world how important creators are to society. How podcasters, video creators, musicians, gamers, and illustrators are literally creating a better, smarter, more inspiring future.

With this round of funding, we’re welcoming our first creator/artist investors — something we’ve wanted to do for a long time and are so super pumped to see happen. Artists like Serj Tankian and Hannibal Buress have invested in Patreon. This means we’ll have even more creative minds and hearts behind our mission to fund the creative class. Alongside Glade Brook Capital who led this round, we’re proud to welcome back investors like Thrive Capital, Initialized, Index Ventures, DFJ, Freestyle Capital, Charles River Ventures, and Otherwise.

When Sam and I launched Patreon, it was in response to a broken system where creative work on the internet was being used to funnel massive profits to big companies without valuing or rewarding the creators. This core problem has only intensified despite others launching Patreon-like membership features. Yet the fundamental system remains broken; other companies still continue to prioritize advertising dollars over creators. Meanwhile, creators have many options when it comes to sharing their work and cultivating a following on the internet, but few opportunities to obtain and enjoy consistent income. Patreon fulfills a unique need for creators, leveraging the deep, personal connections they’ve fostered with their fans to get them paid for the value of their work. This is not a new concept; this is membership by Patreon. And it’s working.

By the end of this year, we'll have the honor to say we've paid out over $1 billion to creators worldwide, and this funding accelerates the next $10 billion paid out to creators!

Building a best-in-class global membership platform

This funding moves us faster toward building the world-class global membership platform that creators need. Creators across the globe are using Patreon to nurture direct connections with their fans, build supportive troll-free communities, and deliver unique value to patrons. We’ll support this international growth with new currencies, payment methods, and languages. Additionally, we have started our global expansion with an office in Porto, Portugal and are in the process of exploring other locations so we can best serve creators.


"We envision a future where creative people everywhere can do their best work with the support of their biggest fans, and where creativity is valued for the joy, inspiration, and connection it brings."


Fans love membership because they get connection, access, exclusive merch, and content they can’t get anywhere else. We’re building better ways for creators to deliver digital benefits like secure audio, video, and image galleries. And we’re making sure those benefits are easy for patrons to find and enjoy wherever they are. To that end, we are rethinking our mobile experience to make connecting with creators and receiving benefits streamlined and convenient. Our new Merch for Membership, which includes full-service fulfillment for creators, will expand faster and further with international shipping and more items to choose from.

We’ll also be enhancing the connection between creators and patrons. First, we’re making the creator page more customizable so creators can tell their story, their way, and make it easier for their fans to understand what’s unique about their membership program. We’ll also give creators and their patrons better ways to engage, both one on one and as a community.

The best is yet to come

We envision a future where creative people everywhere can do their best work with the support of their biggest fans, and where creativity is valued for the joy, inspiration, and connection it brings. We’re so grateful for the opportunity to build this future as a thriving independent company, together with creators and patrons.