Snap Inc. has officially submitted documents to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to hold an initial public offering (IPO). The company is seeking to raise around $3 billion with a valuation between $20 billion and $25 billion.
Snap Inc. is the parent company of Snapchat and calls itself “a camera company” in the documents, filed for the listing at the New York Stock Exchange. Over $404 million in revenue was raised by the social networking company in the last year after it opened its gates to advertisers.
In the documents submitted to the SEC, Snap Inc had this to say:
Snap is a camera company.
We believe that reinventing the camera represents our greatest opportunity to improve the way that people live and communicate. Our products empower people to express themselves, live in the moment, learn about the world, and have fun together.
In the way that the flashing cursor became the starting point for most products on desktop computers, we believe that the camera screen will be the starting point for most products on smartphones. This is because images created by smartphone cameras contain more context and richer information than other forms of input like text entered on a keyboard. This means that we are willing to take risks in an attempt to create innovative and different camera products that are better able to reflect and improve our life experiences.
At the end of Q4 2016 Snapchat had 158 million daily active users, and this figure continues to grow. If this move to valuation goes well for Snap Inc, expect to see some interesting changes coming to Snapchat in the upcoming months.
