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WhatsApp - About the company
WhatsApp is an acquired company based in Menlo Park (United States), founded in 2009 by Brian Acton, Jan Koum, Emmanuele Fiorito, Naveenkumar NA, Dhawal Banker and Rounak Agrawal. It operates as a Private messaging platform. WhatsApp has raised $58.2M in funding from Sequoia Capital, with last known valuation of $19B. The company has 456 active competitors, including 21 funded and 21 that have exited. Its top competitors include companies like Snapchat, Kik and imo.
Sectors and market segments that WhatsApp operate in
WhatsApp serves in the Mobile market segments.The primary business model of WhatsApp is:Company Details
Private messaging platform. The features of the product include real-time messaging, video calling, audio calling, file sharing, photo sharing, and others. It uses end-to-end encryption for secure messaging. Its mobile app is available for iOS and Android devices.
- Website
- www.whatsapp.com/
- Social
Key Metrics
Founded Year
2009
Location
Menlo Park, United States
Stage
Acquired
Total Funding
$58.2M in 3 rounds
Latest Funding Round
Last Known Valuation
$19B as on Apr 29, 2016
Investors
Ranked
1st among 456 active competitors
Employee Count
5,030 as on May 31, 2026
Exit Details
Acquired by Facebook (Feb 19, 2014)
Legal entities associated with WhatsApp
WhatsApp is associated with 1 legal entity given below:
Legal Entity Name | Date of Incorporation | Revenue | Latest Employee Count | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
WHAT'S APP INC. CIN: 264763400 , United States, Active | Dec 31, 1999 | - | 98 (As on Dec 31, 2015) | - |
WhatsApp's acquisition details
Click here to take a look at WhatsApp's acquisition in detail
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WhatsApp's funding and investors
WhatsApp has raised a total funding of $58.2M over 3 rounds. Its first funding round was on Oct 2009. Its latest funding round was a Series C round on Jun 30, 2013 for $50M. 1 investor participated in its latest round. WhatsApp has 2 institutional investors.
Here is the list of recent funding rounds of WhatsApp:
Date of Funding | Funding Amount | Round Name | Post-Money Valuation | Revenue Multiple | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jun 30, 2013 | $50M | Series C | - | - | - | |
Apr 08, 2011 | $8M | Series A | - | - | - | |
Oct 2009 | $250K | Seed | - | - | - | - |
Access funding benchmarks and valuations. Sign up today!View details of WhatsApp's funding rounds and investors
WhatsApp's founders and board of directors
Founder? Claim ProfileThe founders of WhatsApp are Brian Acton, Jan Koum, Emmanuele Fiorito, Naveenkumar NA, Dhawal Banker and Rounak Agrawal. Cedric Lepelleux and Gustavo De Boni Van Cleef are the CEOs of WhatsApp.
Here are the details of WhatsApp's key team members:
- Brian Acton: Former Co-Founder of WhatsApp and founder of 2 other companies, Signal and wa.me. They are also an angel investor in 3 startups.
- Jan Koum: Former Co-Founder & CEO of WhatsApp and founder of 1 other company. They are also an angel investor in 1 startup.
- Emmanuele Fiorito: Founder of WhatsApp.
- Naveenkumar NA: Founder of WhatsApp.
- Dhawal Banker: Community Founder of WhatsApp.
View details of WhatsApp's Founder profiles and Board Members
WhatsApp's employee count trend
WhatsApp has 5,030 employees as of May 26. Here is WhatsApp's employee count trend over the years:
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WhatsApp's Competitors and alternates
Top competitors of WhatsApp include Snapchat, Kik and imo. Here is the list of Top 10 competitors of WhatsApp, ranked by Tracxn score:
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Rank | Company Details | Short Description | Total Funding | Investors | Tracxn Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | _1568368645085.png?devicePixelRatio=2&height=30&width=30){kind=logo} WhatsApp 2009, Menlo Park (United States), Acquired | Private messaging platform | $58.2M | 84/100 | |
2nd | Snapchat 2011, Los Angeles (United States), Public | Provider of multimedia messaging application | $2.62B | 80/100 | |
3rd | Kik 2009, Santa Monica (United States), Acquired | Multimedia messaging app | $166M | 71/100 | |
4th | imo 2005, Palo Alto (United States), Series B | Mobile application for video and audio calling | $23.5M | - | 71/100 |
5th |  Blackberry 1984, Waterloo (Canada), Public | Developer of secure communication software and embedded operating systems | - | 69/100 | |
6th | Messenger 2011, Palo Alto (United States), Acquired | Online messaging and calling app | - | 64/100 | |
7th | Mobile app for secure messaging | - | - | 62/100 | |
8th | Messaging app with voice calls | - | 60/100 | ||
9th |  BOTIM 2018, Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Acquired | Provider of private and group voice and video calls services | - | - | 57/100 |
10th | Provider of vernacular-based text and voice messaging applications | - | - | 57/100 |
Get insights and benchmarks for competitors of 2M+ companies! Sign up today!Looking for more details on WhatsApp's competitors? Click here to see the top ones
WhatsApp's Investments and acquisitions
WhatsApp has made 5 investments in companies including ppTVR and Melzo. WhatsApp has also acquired 1 companies including SkyMobius.Here is the list of investments & acquisitions:
Filter this list
Filter this listDate of Investment/Acquisition | Type | Company Name | Founded Year | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jun 20, 2019 | Investments | 2016 | Surat (India) | |
Jun 20, 2019 | Investments | 2016 | Surat (India) | |
Jun 20, 2019 | Investments | 2017 | Kota (India) |
Want to know more about where corporates are investing? Sign up today!See all investments by WhatsApp
News related to WhatsApp
Filter this listMedia has covered WhatsApp for a total of 88 events in the last 1 year, 60 of them have been about company updates and 2 about people movement.
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The end of the callback? Brokers embrace WhatsApp to win new mortgage businessMortgage Solutions•Jun 24, 2026•WhatsApp
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WhatsApp may now warn users before they message unfamiliar numbers: ReportThe Express•Jun 24, 2026•WhatsApp
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WhatsApp introduces linked device alerts to help users detect account takeover attemptsBusinessDay•Jun 24, 2026•WhatsApp
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WhatsApp May Soon Let Users Send Voice Notes Directly From Home ScreenDailyhunt•Jun 23, 2026•WhatsApp
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WhatsApp's journey: From status app to world's default messaging serviceBusiness Standard•Jun 23, 2026•WhatsApp
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FAQs about WhatsApp
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