How Big is Discord in 2024? An Extensive Analyst Report

Discord has cemented itself as one of the fastest growing social platforms, dominating communication around gaming circles. But the scale of Discord‘s burgeoning empire across multiple metrics – user base, revenue, funding rounds – remains underappreciated outside core gaming chatter.

Let‘s rigorously size up Discord‘s present-day business, then analyze leading indicators to model out future growth trajectories. This report aims to appreciate just how gargantuan Discord has already become, as well as benchmark its status against both scrappy upstarts and social media titans.

Section I: Dissecting Discord‘s Current User Statistics

Discord‘s Monthly Active User Base Ranks Among Giants

Discord hit 150 million monthly active users (MAUs) in 2022, per the official company stat. To fully grasp Discord‘s momentum, let‘s visualize user growth since 2017:

{"data": {
"labels": ["2017", "2018", "2019", "2020", "2021", "2022"],
"datasets": [
{
"label": "Monthly Active Users",
"data": [10, 45, 56, 100, 140, 150],
"backgroundColor": "rgba(54, 162, 235, 0.2)"
}
] }}

A 1,400% MAU expansion over 5 years is stellar growth for any platform. For context, it took Facebook nearly 3 years just to hit the same 150 million MAU mark after launch.

Discord‘s upward trajectory also shows no signs of slowing in the near future. The platform tacked on 50 million MAUs in the past 2 years alone. Extrapolating current growth rates, Discord could exceed 250 million MAUs by 2025.

To contextualize the scale of Discord‘s 150 million MAU base, let‘s compare it against major social media rivals – both incumbents and upstarts:

• Twitter: 237.8 million monetizable daily active users
• Snapchat: 265 million daily active users
• Pinterest: 444 million monthly active users
• Telegram: 550 million monthly active users

Discord still lags giants like Facebook, but the platform is rapidly gaining on second-tier social apps. And Discord users spend significantly more session time immersed in active conversations and gaming versus endless scrolling. This translates to stronger engagement and monetization potential long-term.

Dissecting Key User Demographics and Preferences

Let‘s go deeper on Discord‘s makeup beyond just sheer user size. Discord has not openly published granular demographics, but compiling various research paints a profile:

• Gender: Estimates peg Discord as roughly 60% male, 40% female user base
• Age: Discord over-indexes with Gen Z (13-25 yr old users). But platform seeing rising traction with millennials.
• Geography: Around 55% of users based in United States, followed by key European and South American markets.
• Session Length: Average user spends 97+ minutes daily on Discord app, reflecting highly engaged base

These demographics explain Discord‘s magnetism for advertisers and investors alike. The platform strikes lucrative niches in young gamers along with crossover potential into wider age groups. Additionally, 97 minutes of average daily session time is unmatched depth of engagement – and exposure to monetization touchpoints.

Granular Look at Discord‘s Stellar Retention Rates

Underlying Discord‘s astronomical user growth is impressively sticky user retention month-over-month. According to analysts, approximately 90% of new Discord users are still active a month after joining a new server, and around 70% remain active for 5+ months.

This vastly outpaces retention benchmarks for most social media platforms:

Such best-in-class user retention points to the strength of Discord‘s underlying chat and community product. And longer-term retention ultimately amplifies network effects and access to monetization.

International Expansion Growing Total Addressable Market

While the majority of Discord‘s users still concentrate in core English-speaking markets like the United States, the platform recently made strategic moves to capture more international audiences.

In just the last two years, Discord officially launched support for 5 additional languages – including Spanish, Portuguese, French. This expanded localization is already bearing fruit: roughly 35% of new daily signups now originate outside the U.S.

The push into new languages also greatly expands Discord‘s total addressable market (TAM) over the coming decade. Growing international penetration remains one of Discord‘s largest and most promising growth levers long-term.

Section II: Tracking Discord‘s Revenue and Monetization Trajectory

Discord‘s Revenue Growth Now Rivaling Top Startups

Discord has kept revenue metrics closely guarded over the years. But recently sources revealed the company netted over $200 million in revenue for 2021 – more than doubling 2020‘s $130 million top line.

Let‘s again visualize the explosive revenue growth since launch:

{"data": {
"labels": ["2016","2017","2018", "2019", "2020", "2021"],
"datasets": [
{
"label": "Revenue",
"data": [5, 10, 30, 45, 130, 200],
"backgroundColor": "rgba(255, 99, 132, 0.2)"
}
] }}

A nearly 40X revenue increase over 6 years works out to an incredible 113% average compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Very few startups in history have sustained triple digit growth beyond the Series A stage.

And at a $200 million revenue run-rate, Discord now stacks up respectably even against publicly traded social media firms:

• Discord (Private) – $200 million
• Snap (Public) – $4.1 billion
• Pinterest (Public) – $2.5 billion
• Twitter (Public) – $5.0 billion

Discord is already only a single digit revenue multiple away from the lower tier public social media platforms. The gap should continue closing rapidly in the coming years.

Dissecting Discord‘s Average Revenue Per User

While pure revenue totals reveal sheer scale, analyzing Discord‘s average revenue per user (ARPU) conveys monetization efficiency.

Per market researchers, Discord‘s 2021 ARPU landed around $1.30 globally. That‘s up approximately 15% from $1.12 ARPU in 2020. But it still trails leaders:

• Facebook – $7.26 ARPU
• Twitter – $5.03 ARPU
• Snapchat – $3.86 ARPU

However, Discord holds numerous untapped opportunities to boost ARPU significantly:

• Launching subscription packs
• Enabling tipping/payments in chat
• Rolling out integrated digital goods
• Experimenting with audio/video monetization

If Discord can lift global ARPU to even $5 over the next 3 years, that would translate to over $1 billion in annual revenue at 250 million MAU scale.

Modeling Discord‘s Future Revenue Growth Trajectory

Consolidating Discord‘s historical revenue run rates with expansion opportunities gives a lens into forward projections.

{"data": {
"labels": ["2022", "2023", "2024", "2025", "2026"],
"datasets": [
{
"label": "Revenue Projection",
"data": [250, 375, 562, 800, 1100],
"borderColor": "rgb(75, 192, 192)",
"fill": false
}
] }}

Here is the logic behind the forward model:

• 2022 – Discord run rate around $250 million mark based on latest data
• 2023 – Projection of $375 million, assuming 50% Y/Y growth amid new monetization rollouts
• 2024 – $562 million projection, assuming further ARPU optimization
• 2025 & 2026 – Growth tapering but still robust expansion towards $1 billion+ revenue as network effects compound

While any long-term financial modeling carries uncertainty, Discord does seem on-track to deliver outstanding top-line growth for the foreseeable future.

Section III: Tracking Investor Interest and Valuation Trajectory

Discord‘s Funding Hauls Now Rivaling Top Startups

Beyond direct monetization, Discord has also gained notorious status for monster funding rounds over the past several years.

In 2021, Discord raised $500 million led by Greenoaks Capital. This marked the company‘s Series H round accumulating over $1.3 billion in total capital raised to date.

Here‘s a breakdown of Discord‘s funding rounds by year since launch:

This level of sustained investor interest puts Discord in rarefied company. Only breakout champions like Instacart, Stripe, and Epic Games have raised similar round sizes so deep into maturity.

The capital allows Discord ample dry powder to consider M&A, geographic expansion, vertical integration and countless other growth levers ahead.

Modeling Discord‘s Potential IPO Valuation

On the heels of its Series H round, speculation continues to percolate around a future Discord IPO. Comparable social media and gaming darlings like Snap, Roblox, and Unity have all graduated public in recent years.

Discord‘s last private valuation clocked in at $15 billion amid public market tailwinds. Here‘s a breakdown of Discord‘s valuation at each funding round.

{"data": {
"labels": ["2017","2018","2019", "2020", "2021"],
"datasets": [
{
"label": "Valuation",
"data": [1.6, 2.0, 3.5, 7.0, 15.0],
"backgroundColor": "rgba(75, 192, 192, 0.2)"
}
] }}

Extrapolating private valuation trends combined with Wall Street‘s appetite gives a lens into Discords IPO potential:

• 2023/2024 – Discord could target IPO at $25 to $30 billion valuation range
• 2025+ – With ramped monetization and 250M+ MAUs, valuation could reach >$50B+ territory

These projections indicate Discord has substantial headroom as a public company to expand from its next phase of growth.

Section IV: Leading Indicators Point to Continued Expansion

While historical user, revenue, and funding data establish Discord as a breakout superstar, analyzing current indicators also paints a bullish picture on future growth prospects.

Surging Job Openings Show Headcount Scaling

Per public hiring boards, Discord currently lists over 250 open job positions from engineering to product design to marketing roles. This represents well over a 25%+ jump in headcount, signaling management sees scope for continued scaling.

Moreover, Discord‘s hiring spree focuses on key expansion areas like platform partnerships, international growth specialists and even M&A positions. The aggressive talent acquisition validates ambitious roadmaps.

M&A Ambitions

Beyond just organic hiring, Discord made waves in 2022 after reports surfaced about the company exploring major acquisitions – with deal prices ranging up to $10 billion floated.

While no deals have yet materialized, the talks demonstrate intent to accelerate Discord‘s product roadmap and market positioning through strategic mergers.

Potential expansion areas via M&A could include spheres like:

• Professional communications tools
• Live streaming capabilities
• Game distribution platforms
• Video technology stacks

Total Addressable Market Still Massive

Even after registering over 150 million MAUs, Discord still only scratches the surface of its total addressable market (TAM) in digital communications.

According to analysis firm Pitchbook:

"Opportunities remain abundant for Discord to further penetrate its core gaming market segment while also expanding into incremental areas like enterprise communications, education, and media distribution."

With global social media and messaging projected to generate over $200 billion in annual consumer spend by 2025, Discord owns a fraction of a percent of this fast growing pie. Prioritization of network effects and capturing share early of course remains paramount.

But in the long-term, Discord‘s market opportunity expands multiples bigger than even their current formidable size.

Final Takeaways on Discord‘s Scale and Trajectory

Stepping back, Discord has firmly solidified itself as one of the top 10 largest social platforms globally by any metric – user base, revenue, funding raised and network effects.

Yet Discord‘s runway appears longer than ever, with product innovation and geographic expansion accelerating.

For legacy social networks, Discord‘s meteoric rise in the West foreshadows an emerging competitive threat attracting younger audiences. One could argue Discord represents the first legitimate social media upstart to genuinely rattle incumbents in over a decade.

But in the grand scope of the expanding digital economy, Discord‘s winning strategy focused squarely on next-gen communication also renders it an ally for collaboration rather than zero-sum rival to trounce. Developers, creators and publishers alike will likely leverage Discord as connective interface to amplify business activities for years to come.