Reddit Inc. is raising a new round of funding that will value the social media business at US$10 billion, the company said. It represents a significant increase from six months ago.

The new financing will bring in as much as US$700 million in a round led by Fidelity Management, Reddit said in a statement. The company’s valuation was US$6 billion in February.

If the deal were completed in full, it would bring Reddit’s total fundraising haul for the year to nearly US$1 billion.

The website, which hosts message boards on a wide variety of interests and lets users vote on the posts they like, saw a surge of interest this year after a forum on the site, WallStreetBets, jolted the stock market. The trading frenzy whipsawed the prices of GameStop Corp., AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. and silver.

Reddit hired its first chief financial officer in March. The company generated advertising revenue of US$100 million for the first time in the second quarter, nearly triple what it was a year earlier, Reddit said in the statement. It’s now seeking to push deeper into audio and video, where ad rates tend to command a premium.