Explore potential ways to buy Patreon stock before and after the IPO. Get access to select pre-IPO companies at Equitybee.
What is Patreon?
Patreon is a web-based software platform that empowers creators to earn a living through online membership subscriptions. Creators earn income by allowing fans to support their work and providing exclusive content, rewards, and perks to paying subscribers.
The company was founded in 2013 by Sam Yam and Jack Conte (CEO). Conte and his wife, Nataly Dawn, are musicians that perform under the monikers Pomplamoose and Magaziine.
He was looking for a way to monetize his YouTube audience besides native ads.
Though initially popular with YouTubers, Patreon now serves podcasters, writers, artists, musicians, and creators of all kinds.
Patreon offers a simple pricing model, charging 5% to 12% of the monthly income creators earn, plus payment processing fees (2.9% + $0.30). Higher prices apply to additional functionality, such as tiered subscriptions, integrations, and advanced customer support.
The platform bills patrons — those who subscribe to creator content — monthly. The monthly subscription model helps maintain a predictable income stream to support the creator’s work.
Several third-party applications integrate with Patreon, helping creators optimize, automate, and grow their businesses.
It claims more than 8 million patrons are supporting 250,000+ creators on the platform. Top creators have more than 40,000 subscribers and earn more than $100,000 per month, according to data from Graphtreon.
Competitors offering similar services include Fansly, Substack, and OnlyFans.
Patreon’s headquarters are in San Francisco.
Is Patreon Publicly Traded?
No. Patreon is a private company.
Who Owns Patreon?
Patreon is a venture-backed private company. Its investors include the founders, employees, and venture capital firms.
The company has conducted multiple funding rounds. The latest, a Series F, raised $155 million in April 2021.
The round follows a Series E $90 million round just seven months earlier.
Patreon has raised more than $400 million since 2013.
A sample of venture capital investors includes Allen and Company, Atlas Ventures, Charles River Ventures, Index Ventures, Initialized, New Enterprise Associates, Rothenberg Ventures, SV Angel, Thrive Capital, Tiger Global Management, and Wellington Management.
Here’s a video of CEO Jack Conte celebrating the Series F funding round and explaining where he thinks the creator economy is going over the next ten years.
Patreon Valuation
The Series F funding round in April 2021 increased the Patreon valuation to $4 billion.
When is the Patreon IPO Date?
The Patreon IPO date is currently unknown.
Patreon has yet to file S-1 public paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The broader IPO market slowed dramatically in 2022, making it more difficult for startups to enter the public markets. Patreon missed the favorable IPO window in 2020-2021, choosing to raise private funds instead.
We’ll get a better sense of when the Patreon IPO will be when we learn about the hiring of an underwriter, an S-1 filing (public or confidential) is announced, or when the press learns of an IPO date range.
It’s also possible that Patreon will remain private, similar to GoFundMe. However, considering more than two dozen venture capital firms have invested in the company, equity holders will want to cash out.
An IPO or acquisition are the two most likely outcomes. Since competition in this space is high and subscription service barriers to entry are somewhat low, the company will need to build new tools and grow with its customer base to retain them.
Patreon may also look to merge, acquire, or partner with other creator-focused platforms. Potential synergies include video content creation, podcasting tools, online community software, email marketing, and social media.
What is the Patreon Stock Symbol? Patreon Ticker?
Patreon is still a private company, so there is no Patreon stock symbol yet.
Here are a few Patreon ticker suggestions that appear to be available in the U.S.:
- PTRN
- PATR
- PATN
- PAT
What is the Patreon Stock Price?
There is no Patreon stock price yet. The company is private.
Can You Buy Patreon on Pre-IPO Marketplaces?
The author has seen evidence of Patreon stock availability on pre-IPO investing platforms based in the U.S.
These appear to be small share exchanges that occurred in the previous twelve months — likely an early investor or employee looking to liquidate shares.
Additional shares may become available if more early investors or employees want to cash out before the IPO. This may become more likely if the company raises another round of private equity capital or declares no near-term plans to conduct an IPO.
The SEC requires pre-IPO investors to be accredited, meaning a net worth above $1 million (not including primary residence) or an income above $200,000 (or $300,000 with a spouse).
Non-accredited investors can bypass the accreditation requirements by investing through a venture capital fund such as the ARK Venture Fund via Titan. However, Patreon exposure is not available via the fund at this time.
How to Invest in Patreon Stock
Since Patreon is not a public company, it is challenging to become an equity owner today.
However, you can take action to improve your chances of early equity ownership or acquire shares in the IPO.
Otherwise, you’ll need to be patient for shares to begin trading after the IPO.
1. Buy Patreon on Pre-IPO investing platforms
The author has seen evidence of Patreon shares being available on pre-IPO platforms.
Investors can monitor pre-IPO investing platforms such as Equitybee, Forge Global, EquityZen, and Linqto for share availability.
If shares become available, expect to pay at least a $10,000 investment minimum. It’s free to sign up for data and deal alerts.
Pre-IPO investing platforms typically empower users to indicate interest in companies they wish to invest in.
If enough investors indicate interest in a particular company, the pre-IPO platforms may actively reach out to equity holders to try to acquire shares for accredited investors.
As companies mature, gain more shareholders, and delay their IPO due to macro conditions, more equity holders may seek liquidation before the IPO.
Check out our list of top pre-IPO investing platforms for current share availability.
2. Buy during the Patreon stock IPO through a participating broker
IPO investors may identify opportunities to invest during the IPO. That means acquiring shares at the IPO price the night before the company begins trading.
Once reserved for Wall Street’s wealthiest customers, IPO access has become more attainable to retail investors in the past five years.
The online brokers listed below give customers free access to IPOs, even with low account minimums.
Brokers often negotiate exclusive IPO share allocations to retail investors. Your access to specific high-demand IPOs may be limited by how many brokerage accounts you have and what broker gets exclusive access.
TradeStation has a longer track record of accessing more than 300 IPOs and secondary offerings via its partnership with ClickIPO.
Robinhood and SoFi have the advantage of Silicon Valley networks and a history of getting allocations for high-profile IPOs (e.g., Sweetgreen, Rivian).
Check out this list of best brokers for IPO investing to learn more about IPO access for retail investors.
3. Buy Patreon stock after the Patreon IPO
Though waiting for the IPO requires patience, there are advantages to waiting for the stock to become publicly traded before owning.
First of all, the IPO allows investors to review financials. Pre-IPO investing has limited financials available.
Second, IPO stock prices typically rise with high-demand companies. You can benefit if you’re in early and sell when the price overheats.
Many IPOs start with an immediate price increase (“the pop”). Then the stock falls once quarterly earnings reports become available.
In 2021, both Rivian and Robinhood became high-flying IPO stocks. But six months after the IPO, both stocks were more than 80% below their price peak.
The stock price declines after the IPOs could become excellent entry points if you were not allocated IPO shares.
Avoid buying overvalued shares immediately after the IPO. Shares often fall after the IPO due to lockup expirations and quarterly earnings disappointments.
However, the most disruptive companies will be higher in a decade. Patience pays.
Buy post-IPO stocks with any online broker. My favorite is M1 Finance, which is the best for long-term buy-and-hold investors.
M1 Finance does not provide IPO access.
4. Participate in the Patreon Directed Share Program (Creators, Patrons)
Another good possibility is a directed share program.
When companies file their S-1 SEC filing (to begin the IPO process), they sometimes include a directed share program for executives, affiliates, and others who helped the company grow.
Patreon can attribute its success to the creators earning a living on the platform and the patrons supporting them.
This presents a unique opportunity to offer IPO shares to the Patreon community.
Patreon could offer IPO shares to creators first to gauge interest. The company could also offer IPO shares to patrons.
Similar IPO participation has occurred in the past.
For example:
- Uber offered shares to drivers that completed a certain number of trips
- GoPro offered shares to its email list
- Airbnb offered IPO shares to hosts
- Robinhood offered IPO access to the Robinhood IPO
Considering Patreon’s focus on the creator community, a directed share program would be an excellent way to say thank you.
In addition, directed share programs reduce the number of shares allocated to Wall Street’s best customers, further emphasizing the important role of individual creators in our society.
Bookmark this page for more information as the IPO approaches.
Where can I find the Patreon IPO S-1 Filing?
Patreon has yet to submit an S-1 filing to the SEC. When the company does, we’ll share it here.
In the meantime, you can check out the most recent S-1 filings in our S-1 filings feed.
Conclusion
As CEO Jack Conte said in the video embedded above, the next ten years will introduce extraordinary tools for creators. The creator economy is an investable long-term trend.
Patreon is one such tool to empower creators.
Identifying a macro trend can inform investors to position themselves for future growth before the masses catch on.
However, buying private stock early on can often prove difficult for retail investors.
Though pre-IPO investing platforms and IPO brokers have opened more opportunities, private equity investing is still primarily reserved for the ultra-wealthy, requiring millions to invest in seed and early funding rounds for disruptive companies.
So if you pursue IPO shares and early equity, maintain reasonable expectations. However, if you identify multiple IPO companies in which you’re interested in investing, you may be able to access shares before the IPO.
If Patreon stock is on your radar, good luck. Invest in pre-IPO and IPO companies with caution.
* Disclosure: The web page contains affiliate links from our partners. If a reader opens an account or buys a service from a link in this article, we may be compensated at no additional cost to the reader. Opening an account with a broker that provides access to IPOs does not guarantee the customer allocations of specific IPOs. The author is long SG, RIVN, HOOD, ABNB.
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