44. Discord

Founders: Jason Citron (CEO), Stanislav Vishnevskiy
Launched: 2015
Headquarters: San Francisco
Funding: $1.1 billion (PitchBook)
Valuation: $14.7 billion (PitchBook)
Key technologies: N/A
Industry: Media
Previous appearances on Disruptor 50 List: 3 (No. 18 in 2023)

When Discord launched in 2015, one thing that set it apart from other social media platforms, besides being designed specifically for gamers, was a commitment to being ad-free, instead driving revenue through subscription services.

But as the company has become a key communication tool for groups and fanbases that go well beyond video games — with now more than 200 million users, and raising more than $1 billion as it builds towards a potential IPO — it is shifting its approach on ads, and disrupting its own original business.

Discord's new approach to advertising, launched in April, calls back to its roots with a gamer slant. Instead of running standard display ads, the platform's advertisements come in the form of "Quests," where users can stream games that are promoted by developers and publishers to complete goals while others watch, prompting those other users to play the game and complete the quest for rewards as well.

Last May, Discord tested this new strategy with Epic Games and Lucasfilm Games, letting users share Fortnite gameplay with their friends, completing quests and earning Star Wars-inspired skins in the process. In total, Discord said it hosts 1.5 billion hours of gameplay across more than 60,000 game titles each month.

The company also expanded its Shop feature in partnership with game developers, offering users different game-themed profile effects or avatar decorations for purchase, expanding another revenue line that it will also share with those developers.

"Right now, non-Nitro subscribers have basically never had any type of avatar customization," Peter Sellis, a senior vice president of product at Discord, told CNBC in October. "We will be opening it to non-Nitro users, who are obviously a much larger cohort of users, via the Shop."

Nitro memberships cost either $2.99 or $9.99 a month, depending on certain features, and account for the bulk of the company's revenue.

While Discord looks to grow its business, it has also cut back on its workforce, laying off 17% of its employees, or roughly 170 people, in January. Discord CEO Jason Citron said in an internal memo that the layoffs were necessary for Discord to become more efficient after a hiring boom in 2020, according to The Verge, which first reported on those job cuts.