‘Want Snapchat users in India to feel like the app was made for them’: Durgesh Kaushik, Head of Market Development, Snap India- Technology News, Newz9

Nandini YadavOct 21, 2020 17:44:54 IST

Despite having a presence amongst the Indian viewers since 2013, Snapchat formally arrange its workplace in India solely in April 2019. Today, 21 October, the firm hosted its first-ever ‘Snap in India’ occasion. At the occasion, Snap introduced that it is each day lively person base in India has grown by 150 p.c in the previous 12 months. Comparatively, in January 2020, Snap had introduced that it is each day lively users grew by 80 p.c from November 2018 to November 2019.

Ahead of the Snap in India occasion, tech2 spoke to Durgesh Kaushik, the Head of Market Development, India at Snap Inc, about the firm’s progress in India, its India-first options, and its future roadmap in the nation.

tech2: How many each day and month-to-month lively users does Snapchat have in India?

Kaushik: We don’t share particular person numbers however I can share that we’ve got grown our Daily Active User base by practically 150 p.c in the previous 12 months and we’re actually proud of the momentum.

tech2: Is Snapchat working with any Indian app developer to add in-app options?

Kaushik: First of all, SnapPackage makes it attainable for builders to simply construct with Snapchat, bringing participating experiences to our rising group. The first Indian corporations to combine with us have been Jiosaavn and Gaana final summer time, and at this time we introduced new experiences powered by NDTV and Alt Balaji. Today, greater than 800 apps round the world have built-in with SnapPackage and we glance ahead to seeing extra.

Second of all, we’re thrilled to welcome our first Indian Snap Games accomplice to the household. We are working with MoonFrog Lab on an unique customized made model of the well-liked board sport Ludo.

tech2: What has led Snapchat to introduce India-first options?

Kaushik: Back in January, we shared that our Daily Active User grew by 80 p.c from November 2018 to November 2019 – so we’ve got been seeing fairly wholesome progress in India over the previous few years. We all the time believed in the energy of cultural relevance and have seen the outcomes of investing in sturdy partnerships in different markets we function in. Since opening our workplace in India final April, we’ve got staff members throughout enterprise technique, gross sales, content material and inventive technique. As demonstrated at this time with our ‘Snap in India’ occasion, we’re solely at the starting of our journey and are trying ahead to persevering with to construct a neighborhood product expertise, collaborating with nice Indian companies and serving our group.

tech2: What’s the concept behind the new Indian Snap Original?

Kaushik: Since launching Discover in India in 2018, we’ve got aired over 60 native channels from 32 totally different Indian publishing companions, overlaying a variety of genres from News to Bollywood Culture, Beauty, Comedy, Cooking and Sports.

Within the previous 12 months, over 40 million distinctive viewers in India have watched a present on Snapchat, and time spent in Discover has elevated by over 200 p.c – our viewers is rising.

With that in thoughts, we’re taking a look at a quantity of new exhibits together with, creator exhibits with expertise corresponding to Anushka Sen and Ruhi Singh, a collection following the journey of hip hop sensation Raftaar, a comedy collection from Vir Das and final however actually not least, a Hindi adaptation of one of our hottest and long-running Snap Original collection – Phone Swap.

tech2: What is Snap’s imaginative and prescient for the Indian market? Who is your audience in the nation?

Kaushik: India is a vital market for us and we’re actually enthusiastic about the progress we’ve seen thus far. People right here have embraced our core product worth of visible communications with shut family and friends and that’s a extremely constructive signal.

Our demographic candy spot is Gen Z – a era that has grown up with their telephone in hand. But that mentioned, speaking to family and friends is not at all reserved to this age group! We see individuals throughout a number of demographics utilizing our platform in totally different and significant methods.

As we glance forward, our focus stays on ensuring when somebody opens Snapchat in India it feels like it was made for them. This spans product improvement, inventive instruments, group engagement and partnerships.