Epic Games Inc., the video game company behind Fortnite, said the business is valued at US$17.3 billion after completing a new round of funding. The deal makes Epic the fifth-most-valuable technology startup in the U.S.
The Cary, North Carolina-based company said the total size of the financing was US$1.78 billion. That includes investments from Baillie Gifford, funds managed by BlackRock Inc., Fidelity Investments and Lightspeed Venture Partners. The number also contains last month’s US$250 million investment from Sony Corp. and purchases from employee equity holders.
Bloomberg reported in April that Epic, which also owns a widely used set of game development tools called the Unreal Engine, was seeking investments at a value of more than US$15 billion. By June, as the effects of the coronavirus pandemic boosted demand for video games, the valuation had reached about US$17 billion.
With the funds secured, Epic is now more valuable than the likes of DoorDash Inc. and Instacart Inc., two food delivery companies that have also benefited from pandemic-related spending. Epic only trails Stripe Inc., Space Exploration Technologies Corp., Palantir Technologies Inc. and Airbnb Inc. in the U.S., according to technology market research firm CB Insights.
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