Snapchat, In Talks With Alibaba, Joins The $10 Billion Valuation Club

Snapchat’s decision to reportedly rebuff Facebook’s $3 billion acquisition offer doesn’t look as silly today: according to a new report from Bloomberg out this morning, the ephemeral messaging application may now be valued at $10 billion dollars, as it continues talking with investors, including Alibaba, about a new round of financing for its growing business.

This is not the first time we’ve been hearing of Snapchat’s $10 billion valuation, as it turns out. TechCrunch has in the past received tips both from sources and anonymously through our tips hotline that also confirmed this figure. One of those tips included hints that Snapchat was in discussions with Google as well.

It’s worth pointing out that Tencent, makers of WeChat and an Alibaba competitor, is a covert investor in Snapchat, so it would be interesting to see this deal play out, especially if it gave one or the other a larger share of the company, as they continue to battle each other for a top position in China’s tech industry.

Bloomberg, in its report this morning, notes also that there are a few other technology companies in this $10 billion valuation club, including Airbnb and Dropbox, while Uber now has a record-breaking valuation of $17 billion.

Snapchat has to date raised $133 million in outside investment from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Benchmark, Institutional Venture Partners, General Catalyst Partners, Tencent, and SV Angel.