Alibaba Said to Be Investing $200 Million in Snapchat

Snapchat’s star continues to rise, and now, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is hoping to hitch a ride.

According to anonymous sources cited by Bloomberg, Alibaba is in the process of investing $200 million in the messaging service, at a $15 billion valuation. Snapchat declined to comment for this story, but Bloomberg reports that investment would be independent of the $500 million that Snapchat was reportedly seeking to raise last month, which would have valued the company as high as $19 billion, nearly twice the valuation it received just last year.

In other words, Snapchat is friggin’ rolling in it, creeping up behind companies like Uber, with its $40 billion valuation, and the Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, which is currently valued at $45 billion. Investors are drawn to Snapchat because of its existing traction among young mobile users, but also because of the ephemeral messaging app’s potential to become a gargantuan new media company, a promise on which the startup has recently begun to deliver.

In January, Snapchat launched Discover, which allows media companies from CNN to ESPN to post bite-sized bits of content in the app. And this week, Digiday reported that Snapchat is even working on deals with the NCAA and Turner to broadcast live sports within the app. As WIRED’s Marcus Wohlsen recently wrote, investors and advertisers alike see Snapchat as a way to capture “the eyeballs of the future, a market that over the past decade has made billions look like a bargain.”

Alibaba has ambitions far beyond China and the e-commerce market itself. Linking itself to Snapchat will help Alibaba gain a foothold in a growing American market and put it on more equal footing with its Chinese rival Tencent, which previously invested in Snapchat. As one analyst told Bloomberg, “Alibaba has major plans to access overseas markets. They also have intentions to move into social networks.”

Still, in considering this report, it’s important to remember that last year the two companies were reportedly involved in similar talks, which then fell apart. But considering the recent buying and investing spree Alibaba has been on, it seems now may be the time.