Venture Capital
Caffeine, a Redwood City-based social broadcasting startup that has partnered with Drake and the Ultimate Rap League (URL), raised $113 million in Series D funding earlier this month. The ad-free livestreaming platform hosts free events that are attended by tens of thousands of viewers, who are encouraged to make comments in real time and purchase virtual props, like popcorn, and the profits are split between Caffeine and the livestreamer. VCs at Andreessen Horowitz think that Caffeine can tap into new revenue streams that have monetization models that are superior to those that depend on ads, subscriptions, donations, and partnerships.

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