Snapchat, the US-based instant messaging app developer backed by corporates including e-commerce company Alibaba, has raised $175m from financial services group Fidelity Investments, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.
The investment will be added on to the $538m in series F funding Snapchat had raised from Alibaba, Fidelity, York Capital and Glade Brook Capital as of June 2015, sources told the WSJ and Reuters. The round values Snapchat at $16bn.
Founded in 2011, Snapchat’s app enables users to send each other disposable photos and videos that disappear shortly after being viewed.
The app was responsible for seven billion daily video views as of January 2016, up from two billion in May 2015, and Snapchat has been attempting to build an advertising business around it to cash in on its popularity.
Snapchat has now raised almost $1.35bn in total funding, including $485m from a January 2015 round backed by 23 investors, reportedly including internet company Yahoo, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, GIC and August Capital.
Internet company Tencent had previously led a $200m round in 2013 that valued Snapchat at $4bn. Snapchat’s existing investors also include Lightspeed Venture Partners, Benchmark, General Catalyst Partners, SV Angel, Institutional Venture Partners and Coatue Management.