Rumble, the “free speech alternative” to YouTube, announced last night that they would be going public through a merger with CF Acquisition Corp VI, a special purpose acquisition company.
Rumble announced in a press release:
Rumble Inc. (“Rumble” or “the Company”), the neutral video platform, and CF Acquisition Corp. VI (Nasdaq: CFVI) (“CFVI”), a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by Cantor Fitzgerald, today announced that they have entered into a definitive business combination agreement. After closing, which is expected in the second quarter of 2022, the combined company will be called Rumble Inc. and expects to be publicly listed on Nasdaq. Shares will trade on Nasdaq under the symbol CFVI until the closing of the transaction.
Rumble was built on the belief that all creators should have the opportunity to freely express themselves and reach their followers without censorship or restrictions.
Chris Pavlovski, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Rumble, said, “Rumble is designed to be the rails and independent infrastructure that is immune to cancel culture. We are a movement that does not stifle, censor, or punish creativity and believe everyone benefits from access to a neutral network with diverse ideas and opinions. We are on a mission to restore the internet to its roots by making it free and open once again. The transaction we announced today will provide Rumble with the additional capital necessary to continue to scale our business and carry out our mission.”
They included the following statistics about the company’s prior growth, and how the merger with impact their balance sheet and operations:
— Tremendous growth from 1.6 million average monthly active users in Q3 2020 to a record 36 million average monthly active users in Q3 2021
— 44 million monthly active users in August 2021
— Viewer engagement grew 44x from Q2 2020 to Q3 2021 to 8 billion minutes watched per month
— The transaction is expected to provide approximately $400 million in proceeds to Rumble.
— The transaction values Rumble at an enterprise value of $2.1 billion
— Rumble Founder and Chief Executive Officer to retain voting control to facilitate execution of Rumble’s neutral mission on behalf of all stakeholders
Earlier investors in Rumble include Dan Bongino and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.
