There’s been speculation that Anonymous messaging app Yik Yak is raising again, and today an SEC filing confirmed that the one-year-old app, which is popular among U.S. colleges, has closed a $61 million Series B round.
Yik Yak representatives confirmed that Sequoia Capital led the round, which included participation from previous investors including DCM and Vaizra Investments.The deal sees Sequoia’s Jim Goetz join the Atlanta-based startup’s board.
Last month we reported that the company was near to closing $75 million in new capital from investors, and ten days later sources told the Wall Street Journal that the startup had raised $62 million. The Journal reported that the round values the company, which was started by Furman University graduates Tyler Droll and Brooks Buffington, at between $300 million and $400 million, though we haven’t been able to confirm that at this point.
The filing indicates that Yik Yak closed $60.9 million of $62 million, which means that there is still just over $1 million ($1,086,637 to be precise) available in the round.
Unlike other anonymous messaging apps like Whisper and Secret, Yik Yak is focused on serving college campuses as their go-to for news and views. The service currently covers around 1,300 colleges in the U.S., and typical messages from users include thoughts on teachers, other students, college life in general and — of course, the core of campus life — hookups.
It’s been a busy year of fundraising for the young company. Yik Yak raised $1.5 million in April and it quickly followed that up with a $10 million Series A round in June.
TechCrunch’s Jonathan Shieber explained last month that Droll and Buffington want the company to be more than just the campus town crier despite its initial success. One of their ambitions is to turn it into a hyper-local news source. To that point, Yik Yak recently introduced a global map allowing you to view conversations worldwide, while it continues to court the college demographic, having recently staged a bus tour promoting the app on the West Coast.