Twitter rival Mastodon rejects funding to preserve nonprofit status
Enlarge / Founder Eugen Rochko said Mastodon would not "turn into everything you hate about Twitter." (credit: NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Twitter rivalMastodon has rejected more than five investment offers from Silicon Valley venture capital firms in recent months, as its founder pledged to protect the fast-growing social media platform's non-profit status.
Mastodon, an open-source microblogging site founded in 2016 by German software developer Eugen Rochko, has seen a surge in users since Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in October amid concerns over the billionaire's running of the social media platform.
Rochko told the Financial Times he had received offers from more than five US-based investors to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars" in backing the product, following its fast growth.