By Business & Finance 
Evan Spiegel, CEO, Snap Inc
Shares in Snap Inc, the maker of photo app Snapchat headed by Evan Spiegel, soared more than 40% as the company floated on the stock market.
Snapchat co-founders Bobby Murphy and Evan Spiegel rang the opening bell with NYSE President Thomas Farley yesterday as shares opened at €24 apiece on the New York Stock Exchange.
The company officially filed paperwork for an initial public offering (IPO) yesterday. At the opening price, Snap had a valuation of around $33bn.
Snapchat is a mobile messaging application used to share photos and videos. It has become hugely popular, particularly amongst younger people, and messages disappear within 10 seconds of being viewed.
Snapchat had 158 million daily active users for the fourth quarter of 2016, an increase of 48% on last year.
The company officially changed its name from Snapchat to Snap Inc last year. The company has declared itself as “a camera company” and last year announced a line of video-enabled sunglasses entitled Spectacles.
Snapchat users create more than 2.5 billion messages and posts every day and that on average they visit the app more than 18 times per day.
In 2016, Snap generated revenue of $404.5m – a massive jump from $58m in 2015. However, the company also suffered significant losses during 2016, with a reported net loss of $514.6m recorded.
