Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian sets right claim about Reddit's initial funding from VC

Alexis Ohanian, Serena Williams' husband, recently cleared up a misunderstanding about Reddit's funding. He responded to claims that his venture capital firm, Initialized Capital, had funded Reddit, and explained that this was not the case.

Ohanian, who has his influence spread across the business world, co-founded Reddit in 2005 with college roommates Steve Huffman and Aaron Swartz. In 2011, he founded Initialized Capital along with Harjeet Taggar and Garry Tan. Following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Alexis Ohanian resigned from Reddit's board, advocating for a Black candidate to fill his position.

On Tuesday, investor Cole Rotman shared an analysis on X, stating that in venture capital, only a few startups each year grow large enough to become highly valuable, making most deals relatively unimportant. The main role of investors is to identify these rare, successful companies.

He listed venture capital firms that successfully identified and invested in high-potential startups in 2012. He highlighted Snowflake, led by Sutter Hill, with a valuation of $57 billion, and Datadog, led by Index Ventures, valued at $53 billion.

Third on the list was Reddit and he claimed it was led by Initialized, with a $25 billion valuation. But Alexis Ohanian clarified the facts about Reddit's founding and it's distinction from Initialized Capital.

“Lol we didn't lead reddit at initialized. Source: me, co-founder of both” - Serena Williams' husband said.

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Serena Williams' husband, Alexis Ohanian shared the email that led to the creation of Reddit

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Back in October 2024, Alexis Ohanian shared a screenshot of the email that led to the creation of Reddit. Ohanian who was at a tech seminar in Singapore, pitched his startup idea to Mark White, who regularly hears student pitches. White called it one of the best he’d ever heard.

“I'm in singapore at this technopreneurial seminar, and am basically spending a week learning how to create a tech start-up.i spoke to Mark White over some drinks last nite, and pitched him on our idea...from his feedback -and let me remind you that he gets pitches every couple of months from students, and was very candid and honest with his thoughts, but basically said it was one of the best he's heard, period,” Serena Williams' husband said.

Serena Williams's husband email about Reddit's founding

The company has since grown, and as of July 2024, its market cap was $10 billion. Since leaving the company in 2020, Serena Williams' husband, Alexis Ohanian, has focused more on his family, spending quality time with his daughters, Olympia and Adira-River, which he occasionally shares on social media.

He has also concentrated on his venture capital firm, 776, and remains the largest shareholder in Angel City Football Club (ACFC), a National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team, along with other investments.