By Sheila Dang
(Reuters) – Snap Inc said on Monday it has hired its first head of telecom carrier partnerships, as the parent company of photo messaging app Snapchat seeks to bolster its growth outside the United States.
The Santa Monica, California-based company has seen steady expansion internationally after improving its app on Android phones, which are more widely used than Apple iOS outside the United States. It now aims to accelerate growth by partnering with phone carriers in countries like Indonesia and India, where Snapchat recently hit a milestone of 100 million monthly users.
Anne Laurenson, who joins Snap from Google, will serve as managing director of global carrier partnerships. She will be based in Paris and becomes the first Snap executive to lead a global team from outside the United States, the company said.
While at Google, Laurenson oversaw the strategy to grow the Android operating system in Europe, Middle East and Africa through tie-ups with smartphone manufacturers and carriers in those regions.
Snap has employed that strategy to grow in India, a major growth market for social media and messaging apps. The company has partnered with top Android phone manufacturers in the country such as Samsung and Oppo, which pre-install Snapchat on their phones.
Snap has also inked deals to promote the adoption of its camera and augmented reality features. Google and Indian telecom firm Jio integrated Snapchat’s lenses, which can overlay visual effects onto photos and videos, in its recently launched smartphone JioPhone Next.
Indonesian telecom carrier Indosat Ooredoo partnered with Snap earlier this year to launch a program to help brands and content creators use the AR features.
(Reporting by Sheila Dang in Dallas; editing by Uttaresh.V)
