NBCUniversal, a unit of Comcast Corp, invested $500 million in Snap Inc. during its IPO as part of a strategic investment and partnership, CNBC reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Snap's shares were up 3.5% at $25.32 in premarket trading. The company finished its first day of trading with a 44% gain compared to its IPO price of $17.00.

Snap's stock allocation to NBCUniversal seems to be the only one made to a new strategic investor, making NBCUniversal the only U.S. media company with a stake, according to the CNBC report.

NBCUniversal has agreed to hold the shares for at least a year, CNBC reported.

Comcast has pumped heavily into digital-native companies such as BuzzFeed and Vox Media, partly in an effort to better service existing advertisers.

Snap and NBCUniversal did not respond to requests for comment.

Comcast's shares were marginally higher before the bell.