Messaging app Snapchat has filed confidentially with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an initial public offering (IPO), sources familiar with the situation said on Tuesday. The filing puts the Venice, California-based company one step further towards its IPO, which sources say could come as soon as March and value it at $20bn to $25bn, making it one of the biggest technology offerings in recent years. Snapchat started in 2012 as a free mobile app that allows users to send photos that vanish within seconds. Awash in venture funding, the company raised $1.81bn in May, which valued it at about $20bn, media reports said at the time. Earlier this month, Alphabet’s venture capital arm CapitalG, earlier known as Google Capital, disclosed an investment in Snapchat by adding the social networking firm’s logo to a page on its investment portfolio website.

Source: The Guardian November 15, 2016 22:54 UTC