Instagram was reportedly valued at $500 million after its April 2012 venture funding round.
On April 5, 2012, Instagram raised $50 million from venture capital firms, and reports placed the company’s valuation at $500 million. The financing came just days after Instagram released its Android app, a milestone that dramatically expanded the service beyond its original iPhone audience.
The round was associated with investors including Sequoia Capital, Thrive Capital, Greylock Partners, and Benchmark. Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital was among the notable participants. The deal showed how quickly investor expectations had changed: Instagram had launched in October 2010, yet within roughly eighteen months it was being valued in the hundreds of millions.
The $500 million figure is often confused with Instagram’s later acquisition price. Facebook agreed to buy Instagram for approximately $1 billion in cash and stock on April 9, 2012, just four days after the venture round. The acquisition officially closed later that year at a structure reported as $300 million in cash plus 23 million Facebook shares.