Snapchat valued at $800 million, surpasses Facebook and Twitter

App allows smartphone users to send photos or video clips which disappear within ten seconds

The popular photo-sharing app 'Snapchat' which allows users to send images which automatically 'self-destruct' after ten seconds has been reportedly valued at $800 million, higher than Facebook or Twitter's valuation.

The app developed by Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, was launched in 2011 and allows smartphone users to send photos or video clips which disappear within ten seconds and are supposedly deleted from the servers, the Independent reports.

According to the report, Snapchat has raised $60 million of funding from Institutional Venture Partners, General Catalyst Partners and SV Angel, and Michael Lynton, chief executive of Sony Corp US and Sony Entertainment is expected to join the board.

Analysts have approximated Snapchat's current valuation at $800 million up from $60 million earlier this year as a result of $13.5 million of venture capital backing secured in February.

Facebook's valuation lower than that of Snapchat, stands at $715 million which the company paid to acquire the image sharing service Instagram.

Spiegel and Murphy developed the app in response to the series of US scandals over politicians caught 'sexting' and worked on the idea about 'images instantly expiring once viewed.'

Dennis Phelps, general partner at Institutional Venture Partners said that Snapchat is clearly a huge success, and they wouldn't have invested unless they believed that it will become a much larger success adding that the firm will be help develop Snapchat as a multi-billion dollar venture-backed success'.

He further said that Snapchat is unique because it offers a sense of 'urgency' in consumption in the era of information consumption overload.

Meanwhile Twitter is expected to earn $400 million in ad revenue and launch IPO next year with the valuation of $11 billion, and Pinterest, the 'virtual pinboard', which has 50 million users, has the valuation of $2.5 billion, the report added.