Snapchat rising: is Facebook-sized success the future for this youthful app?

The ephemeral app is set to go public, could be worth $25bn, and is seen as the only serious challenger to Facebook's audience. But can the ascent continue?

What is the value of Snapchat? The notoriously secretive parent company of the ephemeral messaging app is about to find out. Snap Inc has this week released paperwork designed to drum up interest in its initial public offering, scheduled for March, which some analysts say could value the company at between $20bn and $25bn - making it one of the biggest technology offerings in recent years.

Snapchat was created in September 2011 as a selfie app that let users share pictures that deleted themselves once they had been viewed. It quickly developed a reputation as a sexting app, although this wasn't representative of how the app was actually being used.