Alibaba is planning a $200 million stake in Snapchat
China’s biggest e-commerce company is investing as part overseas plans
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Alibaba plans to invest $200 million in Snapchat, the social media service for photos that disappear in seconds. Reports say the new funding brings Snapchat’s valuation to a whopping $15 billion.
Snapchat’s $15 billion valuation dwarfs the $3 billion figure Facebook offered to buy the service for just two years ago. It is said to be looking for $500 million in funds from private investors.
It takes Snapchat into the ranks of startups with multibillion-dollar valuations. Only Uber, the mobile car-booking app, and Xiaomi Corp, the Chinese smartphone maker, is valued higher – though they are valued quite a bit higher at $45 billion for Xiaomi and $40 billion for Uber.
Alibaba first looked at a Snapchat investment in September as part of a drive to expand beyond its core e-commerce business. It has recently ploughed cash into a Chinese taxi app, the Singapore postal service and a Chinese football club, and is considering a stake in an Indian online marketplace called Snapdeal, according to the Wall Street Journal.
By the time Snapchat stake was reported, Alibaba had already announced another investment in a Chinese web-enabled car. Alibaba said is said to be developing in-car digital entertainment, maps and financial data for the vehicle.
Snapchat’s 100 million users post more than 700 million photos a day, the company said last year. Its creators Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy are two of the world’s youngest billionaires, with a net worth of $1.5 billion each.
Snapchat, meanwhile, is still struggling to generate revenue after rebranding itself as a social sharing service following bad press for teen sexting. Snapchat photos, which disappear within seconds of being viewed, can now be added to public galleries to create stories of the kind the Chinese authorities usually target. Indeed, Snapchat is still banned in China.
A stake in Snapchat would take Alibaba’s total equity investments over the past 12 months to $6.3 billion from 26 deals, according to Bloomberg.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments