Alibaba to Invest in Snapchat at $15 Billion Valuation: Report
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. intends to invest in Snapchat Inc., the mobile application for sending disappearing photos, at a valuation of $15 billion, according to reports.
The investment values the company at around $15 billion, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the situation. This places the four-year-old company into the top ranks of privately held startups.
The report does not explain what value the startup would bring to Alibaba. The Chinese company, which has been coping with a steady increase in shopping via smartphones and tablets, has made it a priority to develop mobile services.
Snapchat's latest valuation is a massive increase for a company that Facebook offered to buy in late 2013 for $3 billion.
Snapchat raised funds from at least two investors,Yahoo Inc. and venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, in a round of funding that valued the messaging startup at $10 billion last year. Other investors include Benchmark, General Catalyst Partners, Institutional Venture Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Coatue Management LLC and DST Global.
Snapchat users exchange more than 700 million photos a day, the company claimed last year. The photos are sent directly to other individuals and disappear within seconds of being viewed, though they can also be added to private compilations of photos that last for 24 hours, or public, event-driven "Stories."
