From Snap to Uber, here are 9 billion-dollar tech companies that still aren't profitable

Earlier this year, Snapchat surpassed 200 million daily active users, a milestone for the social media startup. Now, eight years after its founding, Snap — the company that owns the photo-sharing app — is hoping to achieve another milestone: it might start making money.

Snap is just one of many tech companies worth billions of dollars that has never turned a profit. Instead, these startups pour money raised from investors back into growth, losing money yearly.

Investors stay on the hook in the hopes that the companies will one day become profitable, allowing them to cash out. This has worked for some startups — Facebook first turned a profit five years after it was founded, and boosted its profits to $6.9 billion last year. Amazon, founded in 1994, didn't make a profit until 2001, and was relatively light on profits until recently.

But while startups frequently aim to convince investors that they're the next Facebook or Amazon, such success stories are rare, and questionable paths to profitability can doom startups. WeWork's attempt at going public in September failed after investors were unconvinced by the company's plan to turn around its cash-burning trajectory.

Nonetheless, investment data shows that backers are increasingly willing to support startups that remain unprofitable for long periods of time.

A Pitchbook report published earlier this year showed that, of 100 startups worth more than $1 billion to successfully complete an initial public offering since 2010, 64% were unprofitable. Last year, unprofitable companies that went public fared better than profitable ones, according to Recode.

Here are nine companies that are valued in the billions despite not being profitable.

1. Snap

Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

Year founded: 2011

Current valuation: $21.7 billion

Net loss in 2018: $1.3 billion

A Snap spokesperson did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Source: Snap

2. Zillow

Courtesy of Zillow

Year founded: 2004

Current valuation: $8.38 billion

Net loss in 2018: $119.9 million 

A Zillow spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Source: Zillow

3. Square

Reuters

Year founded: 2009

Current valuation: $29.6 billion

Net loss in 2018: $38.46 million

A Square spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Source: Statista

4. Uber

Mario Tama/Getty Images

Year founded: 2009

Current valuation: $50.4 billion

Net loss in 2018: $1.8 billion

An Uber spokesperson did respond to a request for comment.

Source: CNN

5. Lyft

Reuters

Year founded: 2012

Current valuation: $14.59 billion

Net loss in 2018: $911 million 

A Lyft spokesperson highlighted that in the company's third quarter 2019 earnings report, CEO Logan Green said Lyft expects to be profitable by the fourth quarter of 2021.

Source: Lyft

6. Pinterest

Reuters

Year founded: 2009

Current valuation: $10.9 billion

Net loss in 2018: $63 million

While Pinterest has never had a profitable year, it did achieve profitability in the third quarter of 2019, it noted in a shareholder letter.

Source: Crunchbase

7. WeWork

Reuters

Year founded: 2010

Current valuation: $4.9 billion

Net loss in 2018: $1.6 billion 

A WeWork spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Source: WeWork

8. Spotify

Reuters

Year founded: 2006

Current valuation: $25.8 billion

Net loss in 2018: $78 million 

A Spotify spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Source: Statista

9. Tesla

FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

Year founded: 2003

Current valuation: $59.3 billion

Net loss in 2018: $976 million 

A Tesla spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Source: Macrotrends