Venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byer has agreed to invest in Snapchat at a valuation close to $10 billion, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
Kleiner had committed to invest up to $20 million in the fast-growing messaging startup back in May, the Journal reported, citing "people with knowledge of the matter."
At least one other strategic investor has also committed to joining the latest round of funding.
Snapchat would join a select club of tech startups with valuations of $10 billion or more once the deal goes through.
The club also includes car-ride service Uber and rooms-to-let startup AirBnb.
The so-called ephemeral messaging service, popular with teenagers, turned down a massive $3 billion offer from Facebook in 2013, according to Reuters.
Both Snapchat and nor Kleiner have not commented on the news publicly yet.
Snapchat lets users send photo-messages that vanish within seconds, but it is expected to soon start offering advertising or branch out into additional services, according to Reuters.
The company is similar to a new crop of popular mobile messaging apps that compete with more established services like Facebook and Twitter.
Even though few of them have been able to establish a business model so far, their rapid user growth and perceptions of advertising potential have aroused intense investor interest over the last year or so.
Companies like Yum Brands, Taco Bell and GrubHub have already been using Snapchat for promotional offers and contests.
Snapchat users send more than 500 million snaps daily, the average user checking the app 14 times per day, according to the company.
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