Wattpad raises $46 million in Series C funding

Toronto, Canada – April 8, 2014 – Wattpad, the world’s largest community of readers and writers, today announced the company has raised $46 million in Series C funding. The round was led by OMERS Ventures with participation from August Capital, Raine Ventures, and Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund.

All of Wattpad’s existing investors also participated in the round, including: Union Square Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Jerry Yang of AME Cloud Ventures, Golden Venture Partners, and Boris Wertz of Version One Ventures.

Wattpad is the first social platform to create direct connections between readers and writers on a massive scale. With Wattpad, readers around the world can access millions of free stories from any mobile device or computer, as well as interact with writers. Twenty-five million people spend upwards of 6 billion minutes a month on Wattpad. While the majority of users reside in the US, UK, and Canada, international growth is strong. Wattpad is already the number one app in the Philippines and 10 percent of overall traffic comes from Spanish-speaking countries.

“People’s access to books and opportunities to tell the stories that matter to them varies greatly around the world. Wattpad is changing that by giving anyone an opportunity to read and write from the devices they own,” said Jim Orlando, Managing Director at OMERS Ventures. “We’re proud to invest in Wattpad, one of the country’s most innovative consumer Internet companies, and watch its impact across the globe.”

Wattpad will use the latest funding to expand its Toronto team. The company plans to move to a new downtown office space at the end of April to accommodate its rapid growth. Series C funds will also be used to support product development and community growth.

“We’ve grown 200% since this time last year and tens of thousands of people join the Wattpad community each day,” said Allen Lau, Wattpad CEO and co-founder. “We’re on-track to become one of the most successful consumer Internet companies in the world. With this latest investment we’ll continue to build a Toronto company that has global impact.”

“The more we learned about Wattpad, the more we wanted to help it grow and succeed,” said Tripp Jones at August Capital. “Not only did we invest in the company, but I’ve also had the chance to star in my very own Wattpad story, September Capital, and experience how Wattpad connects people through words.”

About Wattpad

More than 25 million people have joined Wattpad, making it the world’s largest community of readers and writers. People use Wattpad to connect with each other while they discover and share millions of free stories. Wattpad stories are available in more than 50 languages and can be read or written from any phone, tablet, or computer. The company is proudly based in Toronto, Canada. Learn more at www.wattpad.com