Imgur Raises $20 Million From Ex-Ripple CTO's Micropayments Startup

Imgur, a popular image hosting site, revealed it has received $20 million in venture equity from Coil, a micropayments tool for content creators.

In addition to the funding, Imgur has agreed to build Coil into its platform, which receives 300 million monthly users, to provide micropayments to users who view content, according to a report from TechCrunch.

The partnership will also be marked by a forthcoming premium Imgur membership with exclusive features and content for Coil subscribers. A $5 per month Coil subscription funds creators per second that the subscriber spends consuming their content at a rate of 36 cents per hour.

“Imgur began in 2009 as a gift to the internet. Over the last 10 years we’ve built one of the largest, most positive online communities, based on our core value to ‘give more than we take’” Alan Schaaf, founder and CEO of Imgur, said in a press statement. "Coil's technology will open up new opportunities for users to give to one another and support the community in new ways."

Coil was founded last year by Stefan Thomas, the former chief technology officer of Ripple Labs, as a means to pay creators for their labor. It’s subscription service is now in open beta, and it provides extensions for Chrome and Firefox.

Comparable to Spotify, Coil’s Web Monetization API automatically pays creators in XRP based on usage, while the user enjoys the flat subscription fee.

Thomas will join Imgur’s board. Imgur previously received $40 million Series A from Andreessen Horowitz and Reddit.

Coil’s investment stems from Ripple Labs’ Xpring Initiative, which aims to fund proliferation of the Ripple XRP ecosystem. Imgur received US dollars in the funding deal.

Image Credit: Daniel Krason / Shutterstock.com