Snapchat
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Investors
Founders
About
Snapchat (Snap Inc.) is a camera and social media company best known for its disappearing-message app. The company was co-founded in 2011 by Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy while they were students at Stanford University 1. Spiegel initially worked with fellow Stanford classmate Reggie Brown to launch a prototype called “Picaboo,” which was later renamed Snapchat 2. In 2012, Spiegel left Stanford to focus on Snapchat full-time 2.
The company grew rapidly, reaching 500 million monthly active users by 2023 and generating $2.5 billion in revenue that year 3. Snap Inc. went public on the New York Stock Exchange in March 2017, raising $3.4 billion at a valuation of approximately $24 billion, with shares priced at $17 and opening at $24 4.
SV Angel was an early backer of Snapchat, investing alongside other prominent firms 5.
Funding History
| Round | Date | Amount | Lead Investor(s) | Key Co-Investors | Valuation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | Apr 2012 | $485K | Lightspeed Venture Partners | — 6 | — |
| Series A | Feb 2013 | $13.5M | Benchmark | — 7 | $70M |
| Series B | Jun 2013 | $60M–$80M | Institutional Venture Partners | General Catalyst 4 | $800M |
| Series C | 2014 | $50M–$54.5M | Coatue Management | — 3 | $2B |
| Series D | 2014 | $485M | Kleiner Perkins | GIC, Yahoo, SV Angel, 23 investors total 5 | $10B |
| Series E | 2015-03-11 | $200M | Alibaba Group | Benchmark, Coatue, General Catalyst, IVP, Kingdom Holding, KPCB, Lightspeed, SV Angel, Tencent, Yahoo 51314 | $15B |
| Series F | May 2016 | $1.8B | Fidelity Investments | General Atlantic, Sequoia Capital, T. Rowe Price, Lone Pine, Glade Brook Capital, IVP, Coatue 8 | $18B |
| IPO | 2017-03-02 | $3.4B | Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs | J.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Allen & Co. 41516 | $24B |
| Post-IPO | Nov 2017 | $2B | Tencent | — 8 | — |
| Post-IPO | Aug 2018 | $250M | Alwaleed Bin Talal | — 8 | — |
What Investors Say
No verified direct quotes from SV Angel or Ron Conway specifically about their Snapchat investment were found. Conway’s general investment philosophy applies: “We invest in people first, idea second, market size third” 9.
What Founders Say
Evan Spiegel articulated his vision for Snapchat: “We’re not just trying to build a better camera — we’re trying to empower people to express themselves, live in the moment, learn about the world, and have fun together” 10.
On rejecting acquisition offers, Spiegel emphasized long-term thinking: “There are very few people in the world who get to build a business like this. I think trading that for some short-term gain isn’t very interesting” 11.
On creativity: “One of the saddest things that happens with creativity… I think sometimes it isn’t expressed because of fear. Everyone is born very, very, very creative, but at some point, it can be scary to try to do something new, that feels different” 11.
In a 2025 letter to his team, Spiegel stated that Snap has “the platform, the distribution, the data, and the vision to reinvent personal computing itself” 12.
Sources
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Bobby Murphy, Wikipedia, accessed March 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Murphy↩
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Evan Spiegel, Wikipedia, accessed March 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Spiegel↩↩
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FoundersToday, “Snap Inc.’s Remarkable Journey in Fundraising,” accessed March 2026. https://www.founderstoday.news/fundraising-story-snap-inc/↩↩
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getPIN.xyz, “Inside the Deal: Snapchat,” accessed March 2026. https://www.getpin.xyz/post/inside-the-deal-snapchat↩↩↩
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TechCrunch, “Snapchat Has Raised $485 Million More From 23 Investors, At Valuation Of Up To $20B,” December 31, 2014. https://techcrunch.com/2014/12/31/snapchat-485m/↩↩↩
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Crunchbase, “Snap — Funding, Financials, Valuation & Investors,” accessed March 2026. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/snapchat/company_financials↩
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Snap Inc., Wikipedia, accessed March 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snap_Inc.↩
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Clay, “How Much Did Snap Raise? Funding & Key Investors,” accessed March 2026. https://www.clay.com/dossier/snap-funding↩↩↩
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Medium, “The Ron Conway’s Way,” accessed March 2026. https://medium.com/lombardstreet-io/the-ron-conways-way-8a9224fd63b↩
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YourStory, “12 quotes by Snap Co-founder and billionaire Evan Spiegel to encourage entrepreneurs,” accessed March 2026. https://yourstory.com/2020/03/inspiring-quotes-snap-inc-ceo-evan-thomas-spiegel↩
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Entrepreneur, “Snap CEO Evan Spiegel Gives Future Entrepreneurs Key Advice,” accessed March 2026. https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/snap-ceo-evan-spiegel-gives-future-entrepreneurs-key-advice/48899↩↩
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Snap Newsroom, “14 Years at Snap Inc.,” 2025. https://newsroom.snap.com/14-year-letter↩
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TechCrunch, “Understanding Alibaba’s Snapchat Obsession,” March 12, 2015. https://techcrunch.com/2015/03/12/this-is-more-than-a-crush/↩
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SiliconANGLE, “Snapchat raises yet another round, this time its $200m Series E from Alibaba on a $15b valuation,” March 11, 2015. https://siliconangle.com/2015/03/11/snapchat-raises-yet-another-round-this-time-its-200m-series-e-from-alibaba-on-a-15b-valuation/↩
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CNBC, “Here’s what Snap’s Wall Street underwriters made off the IPO,” March 3, 2017. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/03/snap-ipo-what-wall-street-banks-made.html↩
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Bloomberg, “Goldman Sachs Wins Coveted Stabilization Agent Role on Snap IPO,” February 2, 2017. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-02/goldman-sachs-wins-coveted-stabilization-agent-role-on-snap-ipo↩