Slack valued at $5.1 billion with new funding in hand
The messaging startup rakes in $250 million from SoftBank’s Vision Fund, significantly increasing its valuation.
Workplace messaging app Slack is now valued at $5.1 billion thanks to an investment from Japanese internet giant SoftBank.
The company confirmed Monday that it raised $250 million from SoftBank and other investors, including the venture capital firm Accel Partners, in its most recent funding round. In total, Slack has raised $841 million from investors. The company was valued at $3.8 billion in April 2016.
The company said it doesn't plan to spend its new-found cash. Instead, Slack will keep the money, along with cash its raised in other rounds, in the bank to ensure it has operational flexibility and resources to run the company, Slack said.
Softbank launched a $100 billion Vision Fund in May to fund emerging technologies. It's one of the world's largest investments and includes investors, such as Saudi Arabia, Apple and Qualcomm.
Slack is one of the latest tech start-ups to receive millions from the Vision Fund. In August, the Vision Fund invested $500 million in cooperative working space start-up WeWork to help the firm set up shop in China. It's been rumored that ride-hailing company Uber may be in line for billions of dollars in investment from the fund.
"We believe that Slack is the future of work," Deep Nishar, senior managing partner at the SoftBank's Vision fund, said in a statement. "This fund reinforces that – providing long-term operational flexibility and resources that prepare us to run Slack as a cash-generating company and move quickly as the market evolves."
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