Discord ends sale talks with Microsoft, sources say

Late March, sources familiar with the matter said that Microsoft in talks to acquire Discord for more than $ 10 billion. 

Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday that Discord has ended sale talks with Microsoft. The company plans to expand its business as a standalone company, the sources said. 

Growing rapidly during the pandemic and doubling its valuation in 6 months, Discord is planning a public listing, according to the sources.

Discord, founded in San Francisco by Mikołaj Roszak and Stanislav Vishnevskiy in 2012, has received nearly $ 500 million in investment so far. Serving as a game-oriented communication platform, Discord was used even for educational purposes during the pandemic period.

Discord generated $45 million in revenue in 2019 which grew by 188.9% to $130 million in 2020 as people turned to social platforms more not to lose contact with family and friends during the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. 

The company announced that while the platform had 81.5 million visits during April 2020, this figure rose to 707.9 million within a month. Meanwhile, the platform reported 140 million monthly active users in December 2020. 

It launched a Clubhouse-like “Stage Channels” feature which allows users to broadcast live audio conversations to a room of audience.