Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group is investing $200m in SnapChat, valuing the photo-messaging app at a whopping $15bn. The companies did not publicly comment on the deal. But a person familiar with the matter confirmed the investment on Thursday, Bloomberg reports. Alibaba is China’s largest e-commerce company, and it’s second worldwide only to Amazon. Snapchat […]
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group is investing $200m in SnapChat, valuing the photo-messaging app at a whopping $15bn.
The companies did not publicly comment on the deal. But a person familiar with the matter confirmed the investment on Thursday, Bloomberg reports.
Alibaba is China’s largest e-commerce company, and it’s second worldwide only to Amazon.
Snapchat was purportedly working on a $500 million funding round last month. According to Bloomberg, Alibaba’s investment is separate from that round.
The e-commerce firm has been funding both U.S. and Chinese tech companies, as a way to grow the company’s global ecosystem, the source said.
Previous deals made in the U.S. include investing in messaging app Tango, online retail site ShopRunner, and ride-sharing service Lyft.
Snapchat will figure amongst the Chinese firm’s largest investments in the US so far.
But it is unclear how Los Angeles-based Snapchat will add value to Alibaba’s operations, Reuters reported.
Silicon Valley insiders, who have held discussions with Alibaba, say its US deals are key to its strategy of becoming the world’s dominant e-retailer.
Snapchat has recently been adding numerous features as it looks to expand beyond simple temporary picture messages.
Most notably, a new Discover features allows users to explore a variety of editorial content produced specifically for the platform.
