Snapchat raises $175 million from Fidelity

Snapchat has raised $175 million in fresh funding from Fidelity Investments and other investors, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The investment is an extension of Snapchat's Series F financing round, which the company began raising last year, the person told agencies.

Snapchat, which makes a free app for sending messages and videos that disappear in seconds, raised the financing at the same $16 billion valuation it had a year ago, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Fidelity bought shares of the company at $30.72 per share in February, the same price at which it bought Snapchat shares in March 2015, the newspaper reported. The "flat round," in which a company's valuation does not grow despite an influx of new money, suggests Snapchat's valuation may have grown too quickly and investors are now readjusting their expectations.

Still, at $16 billion, Snapchat is the sixth mostly highly valued venture-backed company in the world, tied with Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Kuaidi. Fidelity's investment comes despite the mutual fund's own wavering about Snapchat's valuation.