E-commerce company Alibaba will not be investing in US-based instant photo-sharing app Snapchat, a source has told technology news site Re/code.
Reports late last month suggested Snapchat, which is backed by internet company Tencent, had entered talks with China-based Alibaba as part of a $100m round of funding. However, the source stated those were ‘echoes’ of discussions between the companies that had ended before the reports surfaced.
Snapchat’s app allows users to send pictures instantly which disappear seconds later. The app recently added a group sharing feature called ‘Our Story’ and new geofilters for images.
Snapchat did however authorised the sale last week of 17.4 million shares equating to a 3-5% stake in the company, according to Forbes, which cited documents shown to data firm VC Experts.
Snapchat raised $50m in a series C round in December 2013 from private equity firm Coatue Management, and has raised $174m altogether. Tencent took part in a $60m round for Snapchat in June 2013 alongside Institutional Venture Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Benchmark, SV Angel and General Catalyst Partners.
Alibaba is preparing for a much anticipated initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in September.