Snapchat preparing IPO which could see company valued at $25bn go public as early as March 2017

If Snap Inc offers share sells in that timeframe, it would be the highest valued company to go public since 2014

Feliks Garcia
New York
Thursday 06 October 2016 15:29 EDT
Carl Court/Getty
Carl Court/Getty

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.

Snapchat is putting together an initial public offering that would value the company at $25bn.

Snap Inc, Snapchat’s parent company, is working on paperwork that could release the IPO as early as March, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Should the virtual messaging company go through the share sale at that valuation during that timeframe, it would be the highest valued company since 2014, when Alibaba Group Holding Ltd debuted at $168bn valuation.

During the last round of funding in May, Snap – best known for allowing users to send message, photos, and videos that disappear after viewing – was valued at $17.8bn.

If Snap makes its debut in March, it would become the first venture-backed startup to go public. The elite group of billion-dollar startups includes Uber, Airbnb, and SpaceX.

The four-year-old company, based in Venice, California, first began selling advertisements on the platform in 2014 and has since shown a significant increase in revenue. In 2015 they generated only $60m, but are already ahead of their $250m projection for the first part of 2016.

Snapchat has some 150 million daily active users. A successful public offering could serve as a major boon to the tech-IPO market.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in