Giphy raises $72 million for its GIF-based economy

Hard or soft, that's a lot of Gs.

Giphy has raised $72 million as a part of its fourth major round of funding, bringing in plenty more money that sees the upside in the GIF economy.

The company announced the funding round in a Medium post, noting that in the past year it has introduced new products as well as integrations with apps like Tinder and Bumble.

"Now, even more people will get to have fun with GIPHY all over the world," the company wrote.

Giphy also pointed to statements from its new investors. Barry Schuler, partner at DFJ, which led the round, pointed to the general popularity of GIFs on the internet and Giphy's role.

"The Internet is sizzling with GIFs these days because it is the perfect format for snappy expression. Giphy with its full stack approach from search to authoring tools to direct integration with messaging apps has made it really easy and fun for consumers to engage. It’s no wonder their usage and engagement numbers are exploding," Schuler said in the company's post.

The new round comes less than a year after Giphy announced a $55 million found in February, giving the company a $300 million valuation.

Giphy was founded in 2013 by Alex Chung and Jace Cook. The $72 million round is almost as much as the company had raised in its first three funding rounds.