Reddit to open a Chicago office with advertising focus

The popular forum-based website Reddit will be opening an office in Chicago, which is the company’s first headquarters not located on the U.S. coast, according to a recent report from the Chicago Tribune. Reddit’s Rob Sprungman, who is the senior director of central brand partnerships, told the newspaper that the move to Chicago is important because there are so many influential advertising and marketing companies located in the Windy City. “We need to be a part of the fabric of the marketing community here,” he is quoted as saying. “The market has incredible talent … but also some great digital tech we can pull from, as well as people moving here to be a part of it all.” Sprungman will be in charge of the Chicago branch, where he expects to hire about a dozen employees by the end of the year. Reddit’s new office in Chicago will also give the Bay Area company closer access to some of its partners and clients like McDonald’s. The self-proclaimed “front page of the Internet” began in 2005 and has since risen to incredible lengths, as it currently hosts more than 300 million monthly users, about the total population of the United States. Reddit is maybe best defined by its “subreddits” that allow users to join communities discussing specific interests and topics. Posts and shares are then up-voted by users to give them more visibility within a particular thread. Right now, there are about 75 people on Reddit’s brand partnership team, which will grow as the company’s department becomes more immersed in Chicago. The company is currently valued at nearly $2 billion and just received $200 million in funding last summer.