@Sarahp @caseynewton @taylorlorenz
At an absolute minimum it seems like journalists should be able to answer the question of whether Bluesky did in fact close a whopping $97M funding round in January 2025 establishing a $700M valuation, and who participated in it.
https://mastodon.online/@mastodonmigration/116025246450023071
Other resources like Cruchbase (https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/bluesky-514d) and Cbinsights (https://www.cbinsights.com/company/bluesky-8/financials) don't include a Series B round and have total invested capital at $23M ($8M seed and $15M series A).
A Business Insider article on January 7, 2025 reports Bluesky was close to closing another round lead by Bain Capital (https://www.businessinsider.com/x-competitor-bluesky-valuation-new-funding-round-2025-1?op=1), but there was never any follow up.
So how much money has been invested in Bluesky, and by whom?
It remains a mystery.
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Who owns Bluesky?
The curious mystery of the Bluesky Series B funding round.
Did it happen?
If you look at pitchbook (https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/484831-81) it seems Bluesky closed a whopping $97 million funding round resulting in a $700M valuation in January 2025. VCpedia lists Greylock, alumni ventures and Skyseed as participants (https://vcpedia.com/rounds/5195).
The interesting thing is there are no press releases or other media coverage confirming this financing.
Read on...
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RE: https://mastodon.online/@mastodonmigration/116013834072607458
Who owns Bluesky?
Let's ask journalists. Folks like @Sarahp, @caseynewton, @taylorlorenz who cover this space.
What a great investigative scoop. Who actually owns the social network that has become the refuge for lefties fleeing Twitter/X?
The midterms are fast approaching. Can these owners be trusted in an era of algorithmic information warfare? Is Bluesky just another billionaire media company in disguise?
Journalists help us out here, who really owns Bluesky?
RE: https://mastodon.online/@mastodonmigration/116013834072607458
Who owns Bluesky?
Let's ask Mike Masnick @mmasnick who is on the board of Bluesky PBC.
Mike is a famous long time journalism critic and founder of Techdirt. He regularly writes about how Bluesky is decentralized and how you can 'move your digital identity' around the Bluesky network.
Mike is a big advocate of open systems, so let's ask him to open up about who owns the company that he promotes so enthusiastically.
Mike, who really owns Bluesky?
Let's see *all* those contracts! The incorporation documents! The alleged trade secrets! The agreements that structured any transfers of money & IP from Jack as Twitter CEO, to Jack & his friends at #Bluesky!
I'm sure Twitter shareholders would love to understand how IP that they funded development of while Bluesky was a Twitter project ($13m worth), got transferred to an "independent" company, and at what price.
Maybe we'll finally even get to see #WhoOwnsBluesky
Oh hi, just wondering: #WhoOwnsBluesky?
Bluesky Social is trying so hard to keep its ownership secret - successfully so far.
Its spokespeople give obviously scripted non-answers every time they're asked who owns Bluesky, like, "so-&-so is on the Board" (LOL..not the question) or, my personal favorite evasion, "The Bluesky team owns Bluesky."
Convenient when maybe you don't want to come clean about how exactly your incorporation went down & maybe Jack Dorsey defrauded Twitter shareholders.
Mastodon Migration
Erin Conroy