{"id":641865,"date":"2013-02-09T03:53:41","date_gmt":"2013-02-09T08:53:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/?p=609217"},"modified":"2013-02-09T03:53:41","modified_gmt":"2013-02-09T08:53:41","slug":"snapchat-raises-13-5-million-series-a-led-by-benchmark-capital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/641865","title":{"rendered":"Snapchat raises $13.5 million Series A led by Benchmark Capital"},"content":{"rendered":"

Snapchat<\/a>, the hot startup that allows you to send and\u00a0receive\u00a0photos or videos that sort-of-maybe disappear<\/a>\u00a0afterward, has raised a $13.5 million Series A funding round led by Benchmark Capital’s Mitch Lasky<\/a>, putting the company’s valuation at $60\u00a0million to $70 million. The company’s growth hasn’t exactly been controversy-free<\/a>, but has demonstrated the intense interest right now surrounding\u00a0messaging apps that transcend the basic SMS<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The funding news was first reported by The New York Times<\/a>\u00a0and TechCrunch<\/a> and was confirmed to us by CEO Evan Spiegel<\/a>\u00a0on Friday evening. Om Malik reported in December<\/a> that Snapchat was getting funded by Benchmark, the firm that was also one of the early backers of Instagram.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are looking to communicate in a real way,\u201d Lasky told the New York Times on decision to invest.<\/p>\n

The Times reported that Snapchat is now seeing 60 million photos or videos sent per day. Snapchat\u00a0added video to its product in December, when it was seeing 50 million photos<\/a> sent per day. Facebook has since rolled out Poke<\/a>, its obvious competitor to the popular startup in December, but it’s unclear that Poke<\/a> has really challenged Snapchat’s dominance in the\u00a0disappearing\u00a0content realm.<\/p>\n

Update:\u00a0<\/em>On Saturday, Lasky published a blog post<\/a> explaining that he’s joined the board of Snapchat and believes the company has real staying power among mobile users:<\/p>\n

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“We believe that Snapchat can become one of the most important mobile companies in the world, and Snapchat\u2019s initial momentum \u2014 60 million shared \u201csnaps\u201d per day, over 5 billion sent through the service to date \u2014 supports that belief. Snapchat\u2019s ramp reminded us of another mobile app Benchmark had the good fortune to back at an early stage: Instagram.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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