Snapchat raises $50m from US hedgie Coatue
SNAPCHAT, the photo messaging app popular with teens, yesterday secured $50m (£30.6m) funding from Coatue Management, a California-based hedge fund.
Coatue, run by Phillipe and Thomas Laffont, has also invested millions into startup app HotelTonight.
The app made headlines last month for being yet another website with no revenue to receive a billion dollar purchase bid.
But, unlike Instagram, which Facebook acquired for $1bn last year, Snapchat turned down Mark Zuckerberg’s alleged $3bn proposal, hinting that the two-year-old company has revenue plans that do not include being bought out.
Snapchat, which was created by Stanford frat buddies Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, raised more than $60m from investors in funding last June, then valuing the company at more than $800m.
Snapchat has recently added features to make it more of a social media platform. In October, the app launched, “My Stories,” in which users can add “snaps” (photos or videos) to their Stories throughout the day to create a narrative.
Currently, 350m snaps are shared daily with the app.