The
popular messaging app Snapchat has reportedly been valued at $10bn (£6bn) by
one of Silicon Valley's most established investment firms.
The
evaluation, detailed
by the Wall Street Journal,
puts the start-up in the same bracket as young tech titans Dropbox and Air BnB.
The
newspaper also reported that Snapchat now has more than 100 million monthly
users, approximately half of its rival Instagram. Snapchat was founded in 2011.
The
mobile app, which is the brainchild of two US university students, lets users
communicate by sending each other photos that automatically delete after a few
seconds.
In
just a few years, it has grown to compete with messaging and photo apps such as
WhatsApp and Instagram - both now owned by Facebook - as well as Chinese
companies such as Line and WeChat.
'Facebook territory'
Kleiner
Perkins Caufield & Byers, a renowned technology investment firm in
California that was an early backer of Google and Amazon, has agreed to invest
$20m in Snapchat, the Wall Street Journal reported, valuing the company at
$10bn.
The
valuation puts Snapchat "instantly in Facebook and Twitter
territory", says Ian Maude, of research firm Enders Analysis.
However,
he added, those firms "already have substantial revenues", while
Snapchat does not.
"The
bet investors are making is that it is going to be worth the amount of Facebook
and Twitter one day.
"If
you have got an audience, you can develop a substantial multibillion-dollar
business."
Snapchat's
latest round of funding comes after it reportedly rejected a $3bn takeover
offer from Facebook. In February, Facebook paid $19bn (£11.5bn) for WhatsApp.
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