Telegram raises $330M fresh capital through bond sales

Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov said on his channel today that the company secured $330 million in investment through bond sales last week.

Durov said that the offering was oversubscribed with favorable terms to the company.

“This bond offering was oversubscribed, and we were delighted to have global funds of the highest caliber with impeccable reputations as participants. The terms of the bonds (when adjusted for the Federal Reserve rate) were the most favorable for Telegram in the history of our company,” he said on his channel.

While he didn’t name institutions that invested in the platform, he said that global financial institutions value the company’s growth.

In an interview with the Financial Times last week, Durov said that the company aims to be profitable next year. He also mentioned that Telegram is exploring an option to go public.

“The main reason why we started to monetize is because we wanted to remain independent. Generally speaking, we see value in [an IPO] as a means to democratize access to Telegram’s value,” he told FT.

Sources familiar with the deal told TechCrunch that the current yield of the bonds is 7.7%. The maturity for the bonds is either 2026 or when Telegram goes public, whichever is earlier. These bonds were issued at a price of $91— up from $78 of the last issue.

The chat app, which has more than 900 million users, issued bonds worth $210 million last year. The Dubai-headquartered company has introduced new ways to earn revenue in the past few years, including through ads, username sales on the blockchain, and premium subscriptions. Earlier this month, the company announced that personal users can convert their accounts to business accounts by paying a subscription fee.