Snapchat has raised $175 million in fresh funding from Fidelity Investments and other investors, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The investment is an extension of Snapchat’s Series F financing round, which the company began raising last year, the person told Reuters.
Snapchat, which makes a free app for sending messages and videos that disappear in seconds, raised the financing at the same $16 billion valuation it had a year ago, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Fidelity bought shares of the company at $30.72 per share in February, the same price at which it bought Snapchat shares in March 2015, the newspaper reported.
The “flat round,” in which a company’s valuation does not grow despite an influx of new money, suggests Snapchat’s valuation may have grown too quickly and investors are now readjusting their expectations.
Still, at $16 billion, Snapchat is the sixth mostly highly-valued venture-backed company in the world, tied with Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Kuaidi.
Fidelity’s investment comes despite the mutual fund’s own wavering about Snapchat’s valuation. Fidelity slashed its stake in the company by 25% during the third quarter last year. But last fall Fidelity marked its stake back up by about 15 percent.
{{/usCountry}}Fidelity’s investment comes despite the mutual fund’s own wavering about Snapchat’s valuation. Fidelity slashed its stake in the company by 25% during the third quarter last year. But last fall Fidelity marked its stake back up by about 15 percent.
{{/usCountry}}The app provider has worked to expand its fledgling advertising business - its only real form of revenue - and last month formed a partnership with Viacom, which gave Viacom exclusive rights to sell advertising around Snapchat’s content.