‘Fortnite’ maker Epic Games becomes 5th most valuable US startup

Epic is now more valuable than the likes of DoorDash Inc and Instacart Inc, two food delivery companies that have also benefited from pandemic-related spending. —Dreamstime/TNS

Epic Games Inc, the video game company behind Fortnite, said the business is valued at US$17.3bil (RM72.46bil) after completing a new round of funding. The deal makes Epic the fifth-most-valuable technology startup in the US.

The Cary, North Carolina-based company said the total size of the financing was US$1.78bil (RM7.45bil). That includes investments from Baillie Gifford, funds managed by BlackRock Inc, Fidelity Investments and Lightspeed Venture Partners. The number also contains last month’s US$250mil (RM1.04bil) investment from Sony Corp and purchases from employee equity holders.

Bloomberg reported in April that Epic, which also owns a widely used set of game development tools called the Unreal Engine, was seeking investments at a value of more than US$15bil (RM62.82bil). By June, as the effects of the coronavirus pandemic boosted demand for video games, the valuation had reached about US$17bil (RM71.20bil).

With the funds secured, Epic is now more valuable than the likes of DoorDash Inc and Instacart Inc, two food delivery companies that have also benefited from pandemic-related spending. Epic only trails Stripe Inc, Space Exploration Technologies Corp, Palantir Technologies Inc and Airbnb Inc in the US, according to technology market research firm CB Insights. – Bloomberg