Patreon
“Can Patreon become the full financial OS for independent creators by embedding capital, payments, tax, and payout infrastructure directly into its membership platform?”
Founded2013
HQSan Francisco, CA, USA
FoundersJack Conte, Sam Yam
Total raised$413.3M
Latest roundSeries F (approximate)
IndustryMarketplace / Two-sided
The story
Founded in 2013 as a membership subscription platform enabling fans to directly fund creators, Patreon has expanded from simple recurring payments into a broader financial services stack for the creator economy. The 2020 launch of Patreon Capital — a non-equity cash advance product for creators — marked the company's first explicit move into embedded finance beyond payments. Over time, Patreon has layered multi-currency payouts, sales tax/VAT collection, and 1099 compliance automation to reduce creator friction around running a business on the platform.
Last 12 months
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Product timeline
2013
Patreon founded as a membership platform for creators to receive recurring support from fans.· pivot
2018
Patreon acquires Kit, a product recommendation network, to bring merchandise to creator memberships.· acquisition
2019
Patreon paid out $1 billion cumulative to creators and surpassed 4 million active patrons.· banking
2020
Patreon launches Patreon Capital, a micro-lending / cash advance program for creators.· lending
2020
Patreon integrates Adyen to improve US debit payment processing, achieving 18.7% cost savings and 1.89% authorization rate uplift.· payments
The stack
Accounting gap: significant