VentureBeat confirmed with a Snapchat spokesperson about the startup raising $50 million in its third round of funding. The spokesperson also disclosed that the funding was provided by just a single investor, and that Snapchat's newest investor was identified by the spokesman as Coatue Management.
The spokesman, whose name was not revealed in the report, said the new funding will go towards scaling the business further, but did not provide any more details. Earlier today, Snapchat Chief Executive Officer Evan Speigel told the news to another tech news site, TechCrunch, about its $50 million in new funding it raised. A US Securities and Exchange Commission filing listed Sony Entertainment's chief executive Michael Lynton and Benchmark general partner Mitch Lasky as board directors, VentureBeat said in its report. It also noted that both individuals were on past filings made by Snapchat.
The confirmation obtained by the tech news site confirmed a report it did last week regarding Snapchat raising $55 million in a funding round. The earlier report was based on a state filing in Delaware provided by VCexperts. Despite no independent confirmation about the valuation, VentureBeat believed that the additional funding has put Snapchat to value at $2 billion.
The sole product of Snapchat is a free photo-sharing app that users could set the photos to self-destruct or delete from the app and servers of Snapchat within a specific period.
Snapchat was followed by rumors starting with the Wall Street Journal that it was raising a massive $200 million round that will put its valuation somewhere around $3.6 billion. It then followed a second round of funding valued at $60 million that was completed six months ago. Prior to Snapchat launching its third funding round, rumors swirled about Snapchat turning down a $3 billion bid for Facebook to acquire the startup, said VentureBeat.
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