Gab, a free speech-friendly social network, has raised nearly $500,000 in public investments.

The social network has raised just over $480,000 from 653 investors on StartEngine at the time of this writing.

In an email to Breitbart Tech, Gab CEO Andrew Torba pledged his commitment “to building a community and product that supports free speech, individual liberty, and the free flow of information online,” and criticized Google for firing former employee James Damore after he authored a viewpoint diversity manifesto, which examined reasons why there are fewer women in tech jobs and called for more ideological diversity in Google’s workplace.

“Since the Google Manifesto was released we have raised $75,000 in just a few days,” claimed Torba. “This not from Venture Capitalists or special interests, but from the people.”

“We’ve also been in contact with dozens of engineers and people in tech who are tired of the hypocrisy, double standards, and authoritarian censorship from Silicon Valley,” he continued. “The Alt Tech Revolution is here and we are proud to be a big part of the Alt Tech Alliance. We are sending a clear message to Silicon Valley: you will not silence us, there are millions of people like James Damore, and we are coming for your market share.”

Following Damore’s dismissal, Gab extended a job offer to the former Google employee.

Gab, which was launched in August 2016, boasts itself as a free speech-friendly social network that welcomes any user free from censorship, no matter their political ideology.

In just a year, Gab has created a free speech social network that includes private messaging, livestreaming, user verification, categories, lists, the ability to save posts, an app, and live topics.

Unlike competitors, Gab refuses to censor users and instead provides users the ability to curate content, including muting specific terms and other users on the platform.

Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook.