13. Snapchat

Headquarters: Venice, Los Angeles
Bought By: Tencent Holdings Ltd
Headquarters: Shenzhen, China

Taking a picture with a silly filter has never been so popular thanks to Snapchat. The company was founded by Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy in 2011, but neither one would have realized how popular it would become. At the moment, Snapchat is valued at over $20 billion.

Snapchat ©dennizn / Shutterstock.com
Back in 2017, Tencent extended its reach to Snapchat, too. The tech giant poured in over $2 billion for a 10% stake in the company, hoping to see a tidy return from its investment. On the flip side, Tencent used its tech expertise to develop the augmented reality Snapchat uses even further.