Snapchat’s parent company is considering listing the company on the stock market, in an Initial Public Offering valuing the app at $25 billion.
This would be the largest share sale on the US stock exchange since 2014, when Chinese company Alibaba was first listed at a value of $168 million.
The app has quickly come to dominate the social media world, having been used by various high-profile celebrities and companies alike. Snapchat reportedly has over 150 million users, with 10 billion videos being viewed daily on the App. The company is projected to generate $366.7m in global advertising revenue, according to data.
The app was founded by Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy and Reggie Brown in 2011, and has steadily gained popularity. CEO and founder Evan Spiegel, who is reportedly worth $2.1 billion, recently renamed the company ‘Snap’ to reflect the expanding components of the business.
Spiegel rejected a previous bid from social media giant Facebook earlier last year, with Facebook going on to acquire photo-sharing platform Instagram instead. Instagram have been since criticised for recent updates to the App which allowed users to post public videos, in a similar fashion to Snapchat.
The company is preparing to float in March 2017, according to a report released by the Wall Street Journal. The IPO valuation of $25 billion is a significant increase on the May funding evaluation of $17.8 billion, after which Snapchat attracted various new investors. Among these was Sequoia Capital, a venture capital firm which has invested in several other tech businesses including YouTube, Google, Oracle and Yahoo.
In September, Snap Inc introduced plans to expand the business through the launch of Spectacles. Spectacles, are pitched as glasses that are able to record ten second clips which can then be sent to smartphone devices via Bluetooth. The glasses are expected to be released prior to Christmas and retail for $130 (£100).