Snapchat officials are searching for a new round of funding that would make the company as valuable as $19 billion, Bloomberg Business reports, citing a source with knowledge of the initiative.
The new round of funding would make it the third-most valuable company backed by venture capital firms, behind Uber Technologies and China-based Xiaomi Corp. The goal of the fundraiser is approximately $500 million.
"Snapchat is seeking a fairly arbitrary valuation of $19 billion, apparently because that's the valuation WhatsApp got from Facebook," PrivCo CEO Sam Hamadeh said according to CNN.
The company closed a $485 million round of funding in December 2014. Some of the investors in this deal include Yahoo Inc., Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Institutional Venture Partners.
Some investors have touted the company as being the next Facebook or Twitter, mentioning its popularity among young teenage consumers. In fact, Snapchat officials once turned down a $3 billion acquisition request from Facebook.
Snapchat was founded in 2011 and is based in Los Angeles.
