Patreon has raised an additional $60Million to expand its fan-to-creator patronage site. The popular platform is led by entrepreneur and musician Jack Conte, half of the duo Pomplamoose.
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Patreon has raised an additional $60 million in a round led by Thrive Capital along with returning investors Index, CRV, Freestyle Capital and new investor DFJ Growth. The company has raised $107 million to date, and is estimated to be valued at more than $400 million.
Based on old-school patronage, Patreon enables fans and sponsors to support musicians and other creators. Patrons pledge to support creators on a recurring basis for each work created.
This year, the company says it is on track to enable $150 million in contributions from one million fans to 50,000 creators. Many creators are doing well on Patreon, with YouTube based artists and other vloggers dominating top earners.
Amanda Palmer Earns $38,194 Per “Thing”
Patreon’s #3 earner, musician and artist Amanda Palmer, earns $38,194 per “thing” – a video, poem, song, etc – shared first and often exclusively with her 11,000+ Patreon fans. Founder Conte’s own duo with his wife, Pamplamouse, collects $3783 per new song or video from its 1428 subscribers.
Not every creator does that well, of course. A survey of stats on Patreon tracker Grapheon shows that somewhere between 100 and 200 music based creators are earning $2000 a month or more. Singer and songwriter Heatherlyn earns just $349 per month from 24 patrons.
But for an independent musician, each small source of income contributes to keeping their dreams afloat.