Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Snapchat just picked up more money--and a warning sign along with it.
A report on Thursday from The Wall Street Journal says Snapchat has raised $175 million in new funding from mutual fund giant Fidelity. Under normal circumstances, such large fundraising would be heralded. But in this new less-bubbly environment for billion-dollar "Unicorn" tech startups, it represents a slowdown.
This Fidelity investment, if it is the full funding round, would be much less than Snapchat has raised in the past--including over $500 million in May 2015. The $175 million injection also apparently comes at a $16 billion valuation, flat from last year.
Snapchat has been one of the top examples of Silicon Valley startups exploding into huge valuations despite little in the way of revenue. Its first seed round was just four years ago, and it only began expanding advertising options on its video and photo-sharing app recently.
Other startups may feel the pain of Snapchat's flat round soon enough. If Snapchat, which has previously raised more than $1 billion from investors, is now affected by the weak venture markets, other companies with less sterling reputations will likely be impacted in more significant ways.
