Snapchat, the application that pioneered photo messages that disappear after they have been viewed, has been conducting meetings with different investors, including Alibaba, for a possible sale of its shares.

If a deal is closed, Snapchat will be in league with other technology start-ups like Dropbox and Uber Technologies that are valued at 11-digit figures.

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Snapchat's user demographics is in the range of 13- to 25-year-olds, with 70 percent of them being female.

More than 700 disappearing messages are exchanged in the app daily with 500 million stories being shared and read each day.

Mobile analytics company App Annie said that Snapchat was among the top 25 most downloaded apps from the Apple App store in 2013 and is the leading app in its category.

Facebook tried to buy Snapchat for US$3 billion in 2013, but was rejected.

The social media website then launched an application called "Poke" which has the same services and specs that Snapchat has. However, it did not become a hit with users.

Snapchat was created by Evan Spiegel in 2011 at a Kappa Sigma fraternity house. The app allows its users to edit and send photos which will be deleted in seconds after  they have been viewed.

Meanwhile, Alibaba is trying to establish its presence in the United States as it prepares a New York stock market launch later in the year. It is expected to make an initial public offering amounting to US$200 million in September.

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