Twitch's $970 Million Exit Is A Big Win For Investors, Who Last Valued The Company At $100 Million

The company last raised money one year ago at a $100 million valuation, a source tells Business Insider. That's not counting the few million it raised in its first form, Justin.TV.

Twitch raised $35 million in total from investors such as Bessemer Venture Partners, Thrive Capital, and Draper Associates. Bessemer's Ethan Kurzweil served on the startup's board.

Twitch began in 2011 as a pivot from another startup, Justin.tv, which launched a few years prior.

Twitch, which allows users to post and watch videos of videogame run-throughs, was a hugely popular segment of Justin.tv's traffic. Twitch amassed 8 million views in its first month, and it became so poular that it eventually took over Justin.tv's business in its entirety, as the company officially changed its name earlier this year. The site now has 55 million viewers.

Another Justin.tv spin-off, SocialCam, was previously acquired for $60 million, so spin-offs and pivots seem to be the founders' strengths.

It's unclear how Justin.tv's original investors, including Y combinator and Asop Louie Partners, made out in the Twitch acquisition, but you can guess it was pretty good. Paul Graham's accelerator program Y Combinator wrote the first $50,000 check for Justin.tv.