Multiple news outlets are reporting that Snapchat is raising funds from investors based on a $10 billion valuation for the disappearing-messaging service.
The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reports that the venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers agreed to invest in the app maker at a valuation of nearly $10 billion. Bloomberg News, also citing unnamed sources, reports that the startup is in talks for a round of financing at a $10 billion value. TechCrunch is reporting a similar figure.
The valuation could not be confirmed by TIME and does not suggest that any single buyer intends to pay that amount. The company uses the valuation to determine the share of ownership it gives investors.
But if true, $10 billion would represent an enormous valuation for a company that has effectively no revenue source. The Snapchat app, which does not have ads, is the third most popular app among millennials after Facebook and Instagram, according to Bloomberg, and marketers see potential in using the app to reach out to millions of the coveted young-people demographic.
The Los Angeles–based tech firm was valued at $2 billion just one year ago, according to the Journal, and its owners reportedly turned down a $3 billion offer from Facebook last November.
“The valuation of our business and our capital requirements are the least exciting aspects of supporting the Snapchat community. We have no further comment at this time,” an unnamed spokesperson for Snapchat told the Journal. A spokesperson for Kleiner declined to comment to the Journal.
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