How Unity convinced investors it’s worth $2.6 billion

From what we hear, a lot of investors in Silicon Valley wanted to get in on Unity Technologies’ $400 million funding round. Unity received bids, or term sheets, for more than three times the amount of money it was seeking, according to a source familiar with the matter.

And that puts John Riccitiello, the CEO of San Francisco-based Unity, in a strong position. He raised money for the game engine maker at a time when he didn’t need it, and he was able to provide liquidity for some of the company’s 1,400 employees, as about half of the $200 million went to the employees. Riccitiello said the remaining founders, David Helgason and Joachim Ante, still hold a substantial amount of stock, and the founders and employees still hold a majority share of the company.