Snapchat Gets $485M, Is Now Worth $10B

Snapchat has raised another $485.6 million, the startup reported in a new regulatory filing. That may value the startup at more than $10 billion, according to the Guardian.

The funding was revealed in a Dec. 31 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, with 23 investors taking part. The SEC filing doesn’t report the names of the investors, but reports from Bloomberg and TechCrunch both suggest that Yahoo and VC firm Kleiner Perkins were included among the participants.

The new money roughly quadruples total investment in Snapchat to $648 million.

Unlike most startups, Snapchat reportedly goes after investors individually, rather than in large rounds where the investments are lumped together to establish a valuation. That’s why calculating how much the company is currently worth is more uncertain, TechCrunch reported.

The funding was revealed at the end of a year that has seen rapid growth for Snapchat, which is believed to have 200 million active users, up from 100 million earlier in 2014. Snapchat has also taken its first steps towards making money, launching its first advertisement — a 20-second movie trailer — in October and partnering with Square for a payments service in November.

In December, leaks of emails from Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton, who is a Snapchat board member, hinted at plans to turn Snapchat into a fully-fledged digital music service. The leaks also revealed Snapchat’s acquisition of QR code-scanning startup Scan.me and eyeglass video camera firm Vergence Labs.