Linktree Raises $110 Million At $1.3 Billion Valuation, Drawing Support From DistroKid Backer Insight

Linktree co-founders Nick Humphreys (also the founder of Bolster Group), Alex Zaccaria, and Anthony Zaccaria. Photo Credit: Linktree

Linktree has officially announced the completion of a $110 million raise at a $1.3 billion valuation.

The Melbourne-headquartered linking platform unveiled its sizable funding round (and its massive valuation) via a formal release as well as a blog post from CEO Alex Zaccaria, who previously held a position at instrument distributor Dominant Music and worked in the music division of marketing firm Bolster.

Patreon and Last.fm backer Index Ventures and OpenSea investor Coatue led Linktree’s latest round, which likewise drew support from San Francisco-based Greenoaks Capital, Surry Hills’ AirTree Ventures, and Insight Partners. Insight last year made a “substantial investment” in DistroKid, also at a $1.3 billion valuation.

Linktree intends to use this newest capital influx “to focus on additional geographic expansion, recruitment, revenue streams and further value for its creators and brands via new tools and partnerships,” higher-ups said. Plus, the company took the opportunity to tout its over 24 million users, specifically mentioning TikTok, Selena Gomez, Warner Music’s Bella Poarch, and Shawn Mendes, among others.

On the personnel front, the six-year-old business disclosed plans to “drive market and category leadership” with the hiring of its first president, Mike Olson. Working in the U.S., the former Pandora and Twitch exec Olson will focus “on partnerships, strategy, talent and building culture across the global organization,” Linktree relayed.

Addressing the round in a statement, Linktree co-founder and CEO Alex Zaccaria – whose company says that its “influencer, small business, and music verticals” increased by an average of 300 percent apiece across 2020 and 2021 – emphasized his broader vision for the business.

“We are quickly growing beyond the traditional ‘link-in-bio’ company, connecting users’ fragmented online presence and establishing our position as a new sub-sector of the tech industry,” he said. “This funding will ensure we continue to innovate and develop tools that empower people to grow, curate, and monetize their digital universe, maintaining Linktree as the market leader.”

Earlier this year, “in real life” concert and event platform Fever raised a whopping $227 million at a valuation of over $1 billion.

Besides the latter round and the $110 million that Linktree just scored, 2022’s first 10 or so weeks have brought a number of comparatively modest raises for companies operating in (and around) the music industry. January saw Nas join a $20 million round for Carry1st, which describes itself as “the leading publisher of social games and interactive content in Africa,” and artist-advance startup beatBread in February closed a $34 million seed round.

Meanwhile, Web3 sync marketplace Dequency pulled down $4.5 million in capital from investors, and AI music platform LifeScore 10 days back completed a nearly $15 million round that drew participation from Warner Music.