(Bloomberg)—Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. plans to invest in Snapchat Inc., the mobile application for sending disappearing photos, at a valuation of $15 billion, people familiar with the situation said.

China’s biggest e-commerce company intends to invest $200 million, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.

Snapchat, based in Los Angeles, was in discussions last month to raise $500 million in a round of financing that could value the company at $16 billion to $19 billion, a person familiar with the situation said at the time.

Alibaba’s investment would be outside of that round, one of the people said Wednesday.

Alibaba declined to comment. A representative for Snapchat didn’t respond to messages seeking comment.

Snapchat’s valuation has skyrocketed since it was founded in a Stanford University fraternity house in 2011. CEO Evan Spiegel turned down a $3 billion acquisition offer from Facebook in 2013 and went on to raise funds from 23 investors at a $10 billion valuation last year. That increase has corresponded with a surge in venture spending to the highest level in more than a decade.