The messaging platform, backed by Alibaba, Tencent and Yahoo in the past, is raising new funding at a valuation of up to $22.7bn.
Snapchat, the US-based instant messaging platform backed by corporates Alibaba, Tencent and Yahoo, is raising about $200m in new funding, TechCrunch reported today, citing multiple undisclosed sources.
The round is being raised at a valuation of between $20bn – 25% larger than the $16bn valuation at which Snapchat secured $175m from backers including financial services group Fidelity in March this year – and $22.7bn, the latter figure indicated by a document obtained by VC Experts.
Snapchat emerged in 2011 as an app that enabled users to send photos to each other which could only be viewed for a short time before disappearing.
The company has rapidly expanding, particularly with regard to its video capabilities, adding filters and tying up lucrative deals with advertisers. It has more than 100 million daily active users, and one of TechCrunch’s sources suggested it is planning to develop hardware at some point in the future.
Snapchat has now raised about $1.55bn since it was founded, having received $538m from e-commerce firm Alibaba, Fidelity, York Capital and Glade Brook Capital in 2015 at a valuation said to be about $16bn.
A total of 23 investors including internet company Yahoo, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, GIC and August Capital had already provided $485m for a series D round that closed in January 2015.
Snapchat’s other existing backers include internet company Tencent, which took part in an $80m round in 2013 that valued the company at $800m, Coatue Management, Institutional Venture Partners, Lightspeed Venture Capital, Benchmark Capital, General Catalyst Partners and SV Angel.
