The owner of messaging app Telegram is reportedly considering taking the company public.
In an interview with the Financial Times on Tuesday (March 12), Pavel Durov said his Dubai-based platform had 900 million users and generated “hundreds of millions of dollars” in revenue thanks to advertising and premium subscription services.
“We hope to become profitable next year, if not this year,” he told the FT in what he called his first public interview since 2017.
Russian-born Durov, who owns 100% of Telegram, said the company had been offered “valuations of over $30 billion” from potential investors, including “late-stage global technology funds.” However, the company has no plans to sell as it weighs a possible initial public offering (IPO).
“The main reason we started monetizing is because we wanted to remain independent,” he said. “In general, we see value in it [an IPO] as a means to democratize access to Telegram’s value.”
The FT report notes that Telegram has gone beyond its origins as a place for cryptocurrency enthusiasts to become an important communication tool for governments and a lifeline for people in conflict zones.
However, the news agency adds that researchers have warned that Telegram is full of criminal activity and extremist/terrorist content and information. Critics have also suggested that the Russian government may have ties to the platform, which Durov called “inaccurate.”
Telegram introduced paid subscriptions in 2022, with Durov saying the program – called Telegram Premium – would give its subscribers a higher limit on chats and file and media uploads.
“The only way to offer more to our most demanding fans while keeping our existing features free is to make these increased limits a paid option,” Durov wrote on the company blog.
The company's IPO plans come as another social platform, Reddit, is also preparing to go public and is seeking a valuation of $6.5 billion as it looks to raise around $750 million.
Reddit had attempted to go public in 2021, but delayed that attempt due to a lack of profitability, PYMNTS reported last May.
However, the social media platform said it reached this milestone last year and reported a 20% year-over-year increase in revenue for 2023.
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