Tencent has invested US$150 million in Reddit

Reddit has completed a round of investment, netting the social platform US$300 million. This capital has come from a range of groups, including Sequoia and Quiet Capital. However, the biggest contributor in this case is Tencent, which has invested an entire half of the cash involved in this round of funding.

Tencent already has prolific interests in online platforms and services; for example, it also owns a stake in Epic Games. However, some may find it ironic that it now wants one in Reddit, a social media giant that is banned in Tencent's own home country, China. Accordingly, Redditors have expressed concerns that this group's new influence over the platform will lead to censorship mirroring that of China's official policies.

Others appear to be having trouble seeing Tencent's motivation for joining Reddit's panel of investors. Unlike other social media outlets, this platform is relatively low on advertisting revenue. However, the site's CEO, Steve Huffman, asserted that Tencent's business model intersects well with that of Reddit. Speaking in an interview with CNBC, he pointed out that gaming is a consistently popular topic among users; therefore, the new investor may be looking for ways to drive the sales and uptake of other acquisitions. In addition, the Chinese conglomerate is also a part-owner of other social media concerns such as Snap, which has exhibited no evidence of widespread censorship in the US.

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