Reddit Liquidity Case Study

Liquidity Case Study | PUBLISHED 2024
Liquidity Event

IPO, Mar 2024

Time to liquidity

21 Months

Net IRR*

36%

Net MOIC**

1.65x

Figures represent the median Equitybee investor
OVERVIEW TITLE

Reddit is a social news aggregation and discussion network based in the United States. On March 21, 2024, Reddit went public with an initial offering price of $34 per share. By the end of its first trading day, Reddit’s share price closed at $50.44 per share, resulting in a valuation of $9.5 billion and marking the biggest tech IPO of that year.

Reddit investment with Equitybee

From 2021 to late 2023, Equitybee facilitated the funding of twelve Reddit employees’ stock options packages.
A few months after the last employee was funded, Reddit successfully went public via IPO, delivering positive returns to all investors.

How Did Returns Through Equitybee Perform Compared to Leading VCs?

Equitybee investors have achieved impressive returns that exceed those of leading venture firms participating in Reddit's Series E and Series F funding rounds, including top players like Andreessen Horowitz and investment firms such as Fidelity.

Broad Access
By funding startup employees' stock options, Equitybee opens the door for investors to participate in virtually any pre-IPO company. As of the date this case study was published, investors on the platform have funded employee stock options in over 870 startups, spanning sectors from SaaS and fintech to AI and consumer technology.
Discounted Entry Price
By funding startup employees' stock options, Equitybee opens the door for investors to participate in virtually any pre-IPO company. As of the date this case study was published, investors on the platform have funded employee stock options in over 870 startups, spanning sectors from SaaS and fintech to AI and consumer technology.

Earlier Valuations, Faster Liquidity

Investor
Entry Price
Months to Liquidity
Net IRR

Equitybee Investors*

$15.77 (Median)

21.0

36%

Series E Investors

$42.47

41.5

7%

Series F Investors

$61.79

35.9

-5%

*Fundraising round information sourced via Pitchbook, Inc.

Investment Entry Prices vs. Net IRR

The chart below highlights the net internal rate of return (IRR) for Equitybee Offers 1 - 12 in addition to the hypothetical outcomes of investors who participated in Reddit’s Series E and F fundraising rounds. We were able to estimate the IRR for both Series E and F investors based on (1) their respective preferred share prices paid within each fundraising round (as outlined in the Timeline of Events section below), (2) the closing share price on the day the IPO lockup period expired, and (3) a 1:1 conversion ratio from preferred to common shares upon IPO. Notably, the median net IRR generated by Equitybee Offers 1 - 12 was 36%, while investors who participated in Reddit’s Series E and F fundraising rounds ended up experiencing lackluster IRRs (7% and -5%, respectively, according to our estimates).

Investments Breakdown

The table below showcases the returns yielded by all Reddit offers via Equitybee after Reddit’s IPO lockup period expired.

Offer #Net MOICNet IRRNet ROIFunded DateOffer PriceInterestShare Incentive %Distribution DateSettlement Price
Offer #11.44x12%44%6/22/2021$10.54391%10%9/12/2024$53.75
Offer #21.21x7%21%10/28/2021$10.36881%5%10/21/2024$53.75
Offer #31.45x15%45%12/21/2021$16.36482%15%8/29/2024$53.75
Offer #41.29x10%29%1/11/2022$15.17352%9%10/11/2024$53.75
Offer #51.7x27%70%6/29/2022$21.28643%30%10/2/2024$53.75
Offer #61.58x28%58%11/2/2022$29.52343%35%8/29/2024$53.75
Offer #71.83x44%83%1/9/2023$17.47153%30%9/10/2024$53.75
Offer #81.83x51%83%3/22/2023$17.27203%30%9/10/2024$53.75
Offer #91.92x61%92%4/26/2023$13.06403%25%9/5/2024$53.75
Offer #101.66x51%66%6/14/2023$14.40323%20%9/5/2024$53.75
Offer #111.93x84%93%9/1/2023$20.51764%40%10/1/2024$53.75
Offer #121.63x63%63%11/15/2023$14.74663%20%10/28/2024$53.75

*Multiple on Invested Capital
**Internal Rate of Return, net of fees

Past performance is not indicative of future results. 36% IRR represents the median IRR experienced by investors who utilized Equitybee to fund the 12 employee stock options in Reddit. Offers were funded between 6/22/2021 and 11/15/2023. Net IRR is shown net of all applicable fees. IRR figures are calculated for each offer on the Equitybee platform from the date the investor's funds were transferred to the employee (funded date) through the distribution date of proceeds.. If the distribution date was less than one year after the funded date, the IRR represents an unannualized return. For distributions one year or more after the funded date, IRR is annualized

Reddit public share prices sourced through Yahoo! Finance. Equitybee is not affiliated or associated with, or endorsed by, any of the companies mentioned herein. Equitybee executes private financing contracts (PFCs), private placements which are speculative, illiquid, contain substantial risk and may result in the complete loss of capital to the investor. These risks may be greater during extreme market conditions. PFCs do not grant or transfer ownership of startup company stock. When a liquidity event occurs at a price per share less than the investment price per share, Investors will first receive all available funds to recoup the original investment amount. The employee will not receive any proceeds in this event. A private offering of interests will only be made pursuant to a confidential private placement memorandum, an operating agreement, and other subscription documents (“Other Documents”), which will only be furnished to qualified investors on a confidential basis at their request for their consideration in connection with such offering. For accredited investors only. Securities offered through EquityBee Securities, LLC, member FINRA.

From Investment to Liquidity

Timeline Of Events

Feb 2021
Reddit Completes Series E

Funding Amount - $367.95M
Post Money Valuation - $5.89B
Lead investor - Vy Capital

Jun 2021
Offer #1 Funded


The first Reddit employee offer was funded through Equitybee.

Aug 2021
Reddit Completes Series F

Funding Amount - $410M
Post Money Valuation - $10B
Lead investor - Fidelity Investments

Oct 2021 - Nov 2023
Offer #2-12 Funded

Equitybee funded 11 additional employee offers

Mar 2024
Reddit Initial Public Offering (IPO)

IPO Date - March 21, 2024
IPO Price - $34
Closing Price - $50.44
Closing Market Cap - $9.5B

Aug 2024
Distribution to investors started

On August 9, 2024, the six-month lockup period following Reddit’s IPO ended, triggering settling investments made into Reddit employee offers via Equitybee.

Fundraising round information sourced via Pitchbook, Inc.

Equitybee Investors Returns

Liquidity Event

IPO, March 2024

Time to liquidity

21 Months

Net IRR*

36%

Net MOIC**

1.65x

Figures represent the median Equitybee investor

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Join the success of hundreds of investors who made it with Equitybee

890+

Startups
Equitybee investors have funded employee stock options in.
298
Liquidity events
298 unique liquidity events from 223 different companies.
$317M+
Total Volume
Equitybee facilitated over $317 million in total transaction volume.
70%
Median Discount
Compared to the last known preferred share price paid by investors on the cap table.
29.3
Avg # of months to liquidity
For investments that reached liquidity, the average time to return was 29.3 months
4,000+
Customers
Over 4,000 startup employees and investors world wide