About Substack
Substack is a Media & Entertainment company based in San Francisco (United States) founded in 2017 by Jairaj Sethi, Hamish McKenzie, Christopher Best, and Ryan Everton. Subscription-based platform for publishers content management is provided. Substack has raised $189.5 million across 6 funding rounds from investors including Wefunder, FundersClub and TCG Ventures. The company has 4,285 employees. Substack has completed 2 acquisitions, including Cocoon and Yem. Substack was last valued at $1.1 billion in December 2025. Its chief executive, as recorded, is Christopher Best. Its website substack.com draws about 166.9 million monthly visits. Its Indian entity Transfin Media Private Limited reported revenue of ₹1.1 Lakh. Its focus areas include Tech for Digital Publishers, Content Management, CMS and Digital Publishing Platforms. Its competitors include Patreon, WordPress and Scoop.it; 3 of its 3 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
Substack was founded in 2017 in San Francisco, United States, as a content management platform in the digital publishing sector. Independent publishers are supported through tools for hosting and content creation. Subscriptions and memberships from readers are facilitated to replace ad-based revenue. Payments are processed on behalf of publishers, with a share of subscription income retained as the platforms fee. Operations focus on enabling direct monetization for creators.
- Headquarters San Francisco, United States
- Employees 4,285
- Founders Jairaj Sethi, Hamish McKenzie, Christopher Best, Ryan Everton
- Stage Unicorn
- SectorsMedia & Entertainment
- Website category News and Media
- Email••••••••
- Website substack.com/home
- Social LinkedIn X
- Legal Name Transfin Media Private Limited
- Date of Incorporation 08 Feb, 2017
- Indian entity revenue₹1.1 Lakh
FY 2022 · +338% YoY
- Indian entity net loss-₹33.5 Lakh
FY 2022 · -3041% margin
- Indian entity EBITDA-₹28.7 Lakh
FY 2022 · -2600% margin
- Total Equity Funding$189.5M (USD)
in 6 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$100M (USD), Series C
Jul 2025
- InvestorsWefunder
& 32 more
- Employee Count4,285
- Investments & AcquisitionsCocoon
& 1 more
Associated legal entities of Substack
Substack operates through Transfin Media Private Limited (active). Its filings, financials, charges and directors are on the company page.
| Legal entity | Status | Incorporated | Registered in | Revenue (FY 2022) | Employees | Directors | Company page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transfin Media Private Limited CIN U22300DL2017PTC312539 | Active | 08 Feb 2017 | Delhi, Delhi | ₹0.0 Cr | 3 | View details |
Apps and channels of Substack
Substack publishes 1 mobile app with over 1M+ downloads.
Funding Insights of Substack
Substack has successfully raised a total of $189.5M across 6 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Series C round of $100 million completed in July 2025. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $189.5M
- Total Rounds 6
- Last Round Series C — $100M
- First Round $125,000
(Feb 2018)
- Investors Count 33
All 6 funding rounds of Substack with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2025 | $100M | Series C | – | Bond Capital, TCG Ventures | |
| May 2023 | $3.29M | Series B | – | – | – |
| Mar 2021 | $65M | Series B | – | Andrew Chen | – |
| Jul 2019 | $19.09M | Series A | – | a16z | |
| May 2018 | $2M | Seed | – | Zhen Fund, Garage Capital | |
| Feb 2018 | $125,000 | Seed | – | – |
| Date | Valuation | Stage |
|---|
Full valuation and stage history of Substack
Every valuation point, the growth-stage changes (minicorn, soonicorn, unicorn) and the dates behind them require an active premium plan.
- All valuation points
- Stage changes
- Dates
- Exports
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Last known valuation $1.1B (Dec 2025). 33 investors in total: 28 institutional and 5 angel.
Investors in Substack
Substack has secured backing from 33 investors, including angel, venture fund, and institutional investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Wefunder, FundersClub and TCG Ventures.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Venture capital investments in technology sectors are handled by Andreessen Horowitz. | a16z.com | |||
Early-stage startups are accelerated via funding and educational programs. | ycombinator.com | Mountain View, United States | ||
Tech & Offline focused Seed stage VC Firm investing primarily in Asia and the US | zhenfund.com | Beijing, China | ||
Seed-stage investments are made by Garage Capital across multiple sectors. | garage.vc | Kitchener, Canada | ||
Venture capital firm focused on multiple sectors | fiftyyears.com | San Francisco, United States | ||
Investments in multiple sectors are made by Bond Capital. | bondcap.com | San Francisco, United States | ||
| bondcapital.ca | ||||
Angel investments in early-stage ventures are managed by VentureSouq. | venturesouq.com | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | ||
Early-stage venture capital funding is provided by Xfund. | xfund.com | Cambridge, United States | ||
Venture capital firm investing in multiple sectors | atelierventures.co | Pittsburgh, United States |
Investor details for Substack
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
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Board of directors of Transfin Media Private Limited (Substack)
Transfin Media Private Limited is the primary company behind Substack. The board of Transfin Media Private Limited currently have 3 directors; the longest-serving is Ritu Arora, appointed in 2017. 1 earlier director has ceased.
| Director | Designation | Appointed | Tenure | Entity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ritu Arora DIN 07696571 | Director | 08 Feb 2017 | 9 yrs 9 mo | Transfin Media Private Limited |
| Nikhil Arora DIN 07694537 | Director | 08 Feb 2017 | 9 yrs 9 mo | Transfin Media Private Limited |
| Sharath Chandra Toopran DIN 08164418 | Director | 03 Jul 2018 | 8 yrs 4 mo | Transfin Media Private Limited |
People of Substack
206 people are tracked at Substack (20 in leadership, 186 in team); the tracked headcount is 4,285.
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Jairaj Sethi | Co-Founder & CTO | Leadership |
Hamish McKenzie | Co-Founder | Leadership |
Christopher Best | Co-Founder & CEO | Leadership |
Ryan Everton | Founder | Leadership |
Chris Best | Co-Founder & CEO | Leadership |
Dillard Mills Baker | Head of Design | Leadership |
Helen Tobin | Head Of Communications | Leadership |
Kenneth Rapoza | Managing Editor Of The Double Plus Newsletter | Leadership |
Jasjeet B. | Co-founder Of Green Path | Leadership |
Shauna M. Ahern | Head Writer | Leadership |
Karim Damji | Chief Financial Officer | Leadership |
Julien Petit | Head Writer - "the VC Insider" | Leadership |
Carla Faraguna | Executive Assistant To Chief Executive Officer | Leadership |
Mike Cohen | Head Of AI & ML Engineering | Leadership |
Maryam Monalisa Gharavi | Founder & Author, Exhaust | Leadership |
Faisal Khan | Chief Content Creator, Newsletter & Blog | Leadership |
Kristen Felicetti | Head Of Support | Leadership |
Kevin Huynh | VP Operations | Leadership |
Dan Stone | Head Of Culture & Music | Leadership |
Sachin Monga | VP Of Product | Leadership |
186 more people are available in the full profile.
Complete people profiles for Substack
Full employee and board profiles, team structure, tenure and professional contact details require an active premium plan.
- Full employee list
- Team structure
- Board tenure
- Professional contacts
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Financials of Substack
Figures of Transfin Media Private Limited, the primary company behind Substack, for FY 2022. Revenue was ₹1.1 Lakh (+338% year on year). Net loss was -₹33.5 Lakh (-3041% margin). EBITDA was -₹28.7 Lakh (-2600% margin).
- ₹1.1 LakhRevenue · FY 2022 · +338% YoY
- -₹33.5 LakhNet loss · -3041% margin
- -₹28.7 LakhEBITDA · -2600% margin
- ₹1.2 LakhPaid-up capital
Balance sheet, profit and loss, cash flow and ratios of Transfin Media Private Limited are on its company page.
Detailed financial statements for Substack
Statement rows, ratios, five-year trends and downloadable financials of the group companies require an active premium plan.
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- Downloads
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Investments & Acquisitions by Substack
Substack has strategically engaged in corporate development activities, having acquired 2 companies. Notable acquisitions include Cocoon and Yem.
| Company Name | Description | Domain | Location | Founded | Acquired | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Platform offering email marketing software | joinyem.com | Carpinteria, United States | 2021 | Sep 2022 | •••• | |
Employee leave management software is provided by Cocoon. | cocoon.com | San Francisco, United States | 2020 | Aug 2021 | •••• |
Complete acquisition details for Substack
Acquired stakes, deal sources and the complete acquisition history require an active premium plan.
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- Deal sources
- Complete history
- Exports
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Timeline of Substack
6 dated milestones of Substack across 8 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
Competitors of Substack
Substack has 3 listed competitors in our database, 3 of them funded. They include Patreon, WordPress and Scoop.it.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| patreon.com | 2013 | San Francisco, United States | $412.1M | 392 | Reward-based crowdfunding is facilitated for content creators and musicians. | |
| wordpress.com | 2005 | San Francisco, United States | $28,018 | 800 | Cloud-based website development and content management platform is offered. | |
| scoop.it | 2010 | San Francisco, United States | $2.6M | 797 | Content curation and social sharing platform for businesses |
Detailed competitors of Substack
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
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Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Web traffic of Substack
The website of Substack (substack.com) receives about 166.9M visits a month and ranks #293 among all websites worldwide, #30 in News and Media.
- Monthly visits166.9M
▲ 18.7% vs previous month
- Unique visitors43.2M
per month
- Global rank#293
among all websites
- Category rank#30
News and Media
- Bounce rate48%
- Pages per visit3.6
- Average visit3 min 35 sec
- DevicesDesktop 48% · Mobile 52%
Websites whose visitors overlap most with Substack. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
finance.yahoo.com | finance.yahoo.com | 100% | #205 | – | |
| nytimes.com | 98% | 695.1M | #71 | View details | |
| theguardian.com | 97% | 338.1M | #159 | View details | |
| bbc.com | 93% | 547.1M | #107 | View details | |
| washingtonpost.com | 92% | 84.1M | #674 | View details | |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
All 40 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Substack
The complete similar-websites list, audience overlap and engagement analytics require an active premium plan.
- 40 similar websites
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- Traffic by brand
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Top companies in Digital Media & Publishing Platforms
3 companies that operate in the same segment as Substack (Digital Media & Publishing Platforms) in United States, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Content is shared and discussed across user-driven communities. | 2005 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 1.62 B | |||
Reward-based crowdfunding is facilitated for content creators and musicians. | 2013 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 412.1 M | 1,218 | ||
Native advertising solutions are delivered via a cloud-based content platform. | 2006 | New York, New York, United States | USD 403.72 M | USD 1.3 B | 1,800 |
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Related news about Substack
Complete news archive for Substack
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Frequently Asked Questions about Substack
Substack was founded in 2017 and raised its 1st funding round 1 year after it was founded.
Substack is headquartered in San Francisco, United States. It is registered at San Francisco, California, United States.
Christopher Best is the CEO of Substack, as recorded in our data. They have also founded this company.
Substack is a funded company, having raised a total of $189.5M across 6 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Seed of $125K, raised on Feb 2018.
Substack has 4,285 employees.
The primary company behind Substack, Transfin Media Private Limited, reported revenue of ₹1.1 Lakh for FY 2022, up 338% year on year.
Substack was founded in 2017 in San Francisco, United States, as a content management platform in the digital publishing sector. Independent publishers are supported through tools for hosting and content creation. Subscriptions and memberships from readers are facilitated to replace ad-based revenue. Payments are processed on behalf of publishers, with a share of subscription income retained as the platforms fee. Operations focus on enabling direct monetization for creators.
Substack has 33 investors. Key investors include Wefunder, FundersClub, TCG Ventures, TRITON FUNDS, and Andrew Chen.
The valuation of Substack is $1.1B as of Dec 2025.
Substack operates through Transfin Media Private Limited.