Snap tops 100 million users in India, partners with Flipkart and Android smartphone vendors

Snap said today it has amassed 100 million monthly active users in India, an impressive feat in the key overseas market where Facebook and Google reach over half a billion people, and is inking deals with a range of firms including Android smartphone vendors, entertainment TV channels Sony and Zee TV and e-commerce giant Flipkart to make further inroads in the world’s second largest internet market.

At a virtual event on Wednesday, Snap co-founder and chief executive shared the milestone, highlighting some of the company’s localization efforts that has helped to make inroads in India. The milestone and scores of partnerships today mark Snap’s major shift in strategy for the Indian market, where until two to three years ago, it had a limited presence and relevance.

“We have made significant investments to localize the Snapchat experience for the Indian community. We have added culturally relevant content, developed highly active and creative local creator communities, and invested in local products, marketing initiatives, and language support,” said Spiegel at the event.

“Following these efforts to bring a localized experience to Indian Snapchatters, we now reach 100 million Snapchatters monthly in India. We will continue to anchor our efforts around celebrating local culture and talent, while empowering, growing, and providing resources for our community of Indian creators.”

The company has cracked India in recent years after it improved its Android app. More than 98% of smartphones in India run Android. Snap appointing Durgesh Kaushik as its head for the India business has also significantly helped the firm develop improved relationships with creators and businesses, many of them have told TechCrunch in recent quarters.

At the company’s second annual event for India, Snap also announced a number of partnerships it had inked to accelerate its growth in the country. It has formed a “strategic partnership” with Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart to develop AR experiences. The company said this is the first time it has formed a partnership of this kind with an e-commerce firm.

“Through this partnership, shoppers will be able to begin their shopping and e-commerce engagement journey through Snapchat AR, making the process easy from the comfort of their homes!” the company said.

Snap has also partnered with India’s Sugar Cosmetics and MyGlamm, both of which will now adopt Snap’s AR shopping beta program to offer virtual beauty and makeup try-on experiences to customers.

In another India-first initiative, Snap said it has partnered with all top Android original equipment manufacturers (or Android vendors) that together have an install base of over 100 million devices in the country. These firms will pre-install Snapchat on their devices. There’s also a partnership with Samsung to offer a “Fun Mode” to bring some Snap’s AR-powered Lenses to Samsung’s India-focused M Series of smartphones.

The company also released a number of Creator Shows including ‘What’s On My Plate’ featuring Anushka Sen and Vir Das and The Most Epic Max Show and said it is commissioning 120 episodes of new content overall for next year. The company said its Discover section today features content from 70 local Indian channels across news, fashion, entertainment, and comedy.

Snap said it has also partnered with some of India’s leading entertainment channels, including Sony Entertainment Television and Zee TV, to offer curated content that is popular amongst Indians.

This is a developing story. More to follow…