Chat-tool provider Discord Inc is in talks to raise new capital from investors at a time its business is booming because of stay-at-home orders amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The startup, led by chief executive officer Jason Citron, is in talks to raise fresh funds at a valuation of more than US$2bil the figure it commanded in December 2018, said people with knowledge of the matter. Although Discord isn’t in need of cash, it could raise new funds at a valuation of between US$3bil and US$4bil , said some of the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. Talks are not guaranteed to result in a deal, one of the people said.

Discord’s free video, voice and text technology was primarily used to bring gamers together, but, since the pandemic, people stuck at home have started using it for study groups, dance classes, book clubs and other virtual social gatherings. Since the beginning of the year, daily voice users have grown 50% in the US, while doubling in Spain and France and tripling in Italy. In the realm of gaming, 56 million monthly players send some 963 million messages a day on the platform.

A representative for Discord declined to comment.

The company, which is five years old, raised US$150mil from institutions including Greenoaks Capital, IVP, Firstmark and Tencent, it said in December 2018. Other investors include Benchmark, Greylock Partners and Spark Capital Partners LLC.

 - Bloomberg