Snapchat goes public
It’s shaping up to be one of the most exciting IPOs of the year: The company behind Snapchat, an app that’s particularly popular among younger users, is going public. The figures, released for the first time, revealed a loss of just over half a billion dollars last year.
Snap is looking to raise $3 billion in the stock placement, it announced Thursday. However, this could also be a placeholder amount that will be changed later.
According to earlier media reports, Snap was targeting a stock market value of $25 billion. Business figures were also presented for the first time. According to the IPO prospectus, Snap lost $514.6 million last year after a net loss of just under $373 million in 2015, but revenue jumped from $58.6 million to $404.5 million at the same time.
158 million daily users
According to the report, Snapchat had an average of around 158 million users per day in the final quarter of 2016. However, growth has slowed down recently. Compared to the third quarter, only five million users were added. For the year as a whole, however, there were around 50 million.
The U.S. is the most important market with 68 million daily users, Europe follows with 52 million. Snapchat became popular especially among young users with photos that disappear on their own after viewing. Snapchat's money is said to be earned primarily from advertising. Meanwhile, the app is also being expanded more into a platform for media content. In addition, Snap brought out a pair of camera glasses whose sales will be greatly expanded this year, according to the IPO prospectus. So far, they have only been sold in small quantities, mainly from vending machines with changing locations.
Two founders call the shots
The documents also reveal that co-founders Evan Spiegel and Robert Murphy are the two strong figures at Snap: They each hold nearly 22 percent of the shares and 44.3 percent of the voting rights. This means that no decision can be made without them. The IPO should also be worthwhile for early backers Benchmark Capital Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners, which hold 12.7 and 8.3 percent of the shares, respectively. (SDA)
