Fortnite Maker Epic Games Becomes 5th Most Valuable U.S. Startup

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

The Cary, North Carolina-based company said the total size of the financing was $1.78 billion. That includes investments from Baillie Gifford, funds managed by BlackRock Inc., Fidelity Investments and Lightspeed Venture Partners. The number also contains last month's $250 million 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 $15 billion. By June, as the effects of the coronavirus pandemic boosted demand for video games, the valuation had reached about $17 billion.

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 U.S., according to technology market research firm CB Insights.

Read more: Fortnite's Tim Sweeney Comes Out Swinging at Apple, Google

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