Snapchat raises $1.8 Billion in a Series F Funding

$1.8 Billion in Series F Funding

On May 26, 2016 an SEC filing was made with information about Snapchat’s latest Series F round, in which it has raised $1.8 billion. The Los Angeles-based company recently started its monetization efforts and brought in just $59 million in revenue in 2015, according to data in the deck. But it is now ramping up business in earnest, with the funding to match.

Investors in this round, according to reliable sources, include General Atlantic, Sequoia Capital, T. Rowe Price, Lone Pine, Glade Brook Capital, IVP, Coatue Management and Fidelity, among others.

The Form D doesn’t reveal how the company is valued, and the valuation chatter we have heard has varied. Sources have told us that some investments were being taken at about a $17.5 billion pre-money valuation. When you add in the $1.8 billion, it gets closer to the targeted post-money valuation we reported earlier this week, of around $20 billion.

Snapchat is a photo- and video-messaging app. It launched in 2011. Snapchat is unique in that all photos and videos only last a brief amount of time before they disappear forever, making the app ephemeral in nature, though you can take a screenshot of snaps to save them in picture form. As of May 2014, the app’s users were sending 700 million snaps a day. Due to the instant popularity of Snapchat, Facebook reportedly offered to acquire Snapchat for $3 billion. One of the app’s cofounders declined the cash offer however. Facebook later launched a similar app (Slingshot), which failed.

You can find more information on SnapChat’s funding on Business Insider.

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