The following is a timeline of the history of the photo messaging software Snapchat.
Basic timeline Time period Development summary More details April 2011December 2012 Conception and initial launch Snapchat is conceived by Stanford graduate students. Initial versions are launched and an initial userbase is obtained. December 2014August 2016 Aggressive fundraising, focus on video, more product iterations Snapchat raises large funding rounds (Series D: $485 million, Series E: at least $200 million but possibly up to $500 million, and Series F: $1.8 billion). Since Snapchat raises money more continuously, it is hard to pinpoint a specific funding round, creating some confusion for reporting. With the additional funds, Snapchat aggressively improves the product, with changes such as Chat 2.0, the introduction of stickers, and new monetization strategies. Daily video views grow from 2 billion in May 2015 to 6 billion in November 2015 and 10 billion in April 2016. Note, however, that unlike Facebook, that counts a view only after at least three seconds on it (and YouTube, which follows a more restrictive definition), Snapchat counts a view as soon as the video start playing, making its numbers hard to compare with Facebook. September 2016present Rebranding and preparation for IPO The company rebrands itself from "Snapchat Inc." to "Snap Inc." and unveils the Spectacles. It also prepares for an initial public offering (IPO) in 2017. The IPO occurs on Thursday, March 2, 2017.
Full timeline