Omers Ventures Invests in Canadian Startup Wattpad
Toronto’s Wattpad, an online community for discovering and sharing stories, has raised a Series B round of funding from Omers Ventures.
The round was first announced back in June and now totals more than $17 million. Omers joins the Canadian startup’s existing investors, which include Khosla Ventures, Union Square Ventures, and Golden Venture Partners.
“We see this as the ideal trifecta, having world-class investment partners from Silicon Valley, New York and Toronto,” said Wattpad CEO Allen Lau. “OMERS Ventures and our other investors will be true partners in our vision for building a company that will transform the publishing ecosystem.”
Wattpad provides collaborative entertainment that connects readers and writers by building communities around stories. This month the total number of stories posted online topped the 6 million mark, with 900,000 new stories now being uploaded every month. Wattpad has 10 million monthly unique users, and the number of minutes spent on the site has more than doubled in just six months to 2.4 billion in August.
“It’s astonishing when you grasp the ability Wattpad has to fundamentally transform the very nature of a book by adding a real time, mobile social dynamic to the storytelling process. We’re not only excited to be an investor, we’re also extremely proud that this homegrown Canadian company has such a huge global following and growth prospects,” said Howard Gwin, Managing Director of OMERS Ventures.
SEE ALSO: Entrepreneurs could learn a lot from Wattpad’s proudly Canadian approach.
Wattpad says that it will use funding proceeds to further expand its team and bring in new talent through hiring and acquisitions. They will also focus on product enhancements and expanding their community.
Omers has been actively investing in tech startups this summer. Other recent investments include Kitchener’s Desire2Learn, Toronto’s AppHero, and Vancouver’s BuildDirect.
In October Wattpad will be six years old. At this age and with a Series B round in the books, has Wattpad evolved from a startup into a fully fledged company?
