In August 2012, 9GAG received another US$2.8 million in funding from Silicon Valley venture capitalists, including True Ventures and Greycroft Partners, as well as individual investors like Christopher Sacca, Kevin Rose, and Naval Ravikant. In July 2012, 9GAG raised an additional US$2.8 million in funding from Silicon Valley-based venture capital, including True Ventures and Greycroft Partners. 500 Startups was given equity for their aid and mentorship. The 9GAG co-founding team discontinued all other projects and shifted their focus exclusively on 9GAG. Following the 500 Startups accelerator program, 9GAG participated in Y Combinator's incubator and its user-base increased to 70 million global unique visitors per month. During the summer program, the 9GAG team worked on other startup ideas, including StartupQuote and Songboard. Starting the company under a 'Just for Fun' mentality, 9GAG's co-founders began using 9GAG as a résumé-builder for the 500 Startups accelerator program. In a 2012 interview, its CEO Ray Chan declined to explain the origins of the name '9GAG'. The website was co-founded in 2008 by a group of Hong Kongers including University of Hong Kong student Ray Chan, with the intention of creating an alternative online platform to email on which users could easily share humorous photos or videos. Since the platform for collections of Internet memes was launched on April 11, 2008, it has grown in popularity across social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Optional (required to submit, comment, vote or view NSFW content)ĩGAG is an online platform and social media website based in Hong Kong, which allows its users to upload and share user-generated content or other content from external social media websites.

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