In India, 200 million users is a relatively small number; we have room to grow: Snap cofounder Evan Spiegel

Snap Inc, the parent company of messaging app Snapchat, made news earlier this year for doubling its user base and engagement in India from 100 million to 200 million monthly active users within a year. Buoyed by its growing usage, Snap has bulked up its India sales team as it roped in former Meta and Hotstar senior executive Ajit Mohan to push its monetisation efforts in the Asia Pacific region. The Los Angeles-based tech firm’s cofounder and CEO Evan Spiegel, who is on an India visit, said Snap will grow its community and tap advertisers here, leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to further its augmented reality (AR) playbook, and continue to operate as an independent social messaging app amid fierce competition from China’s TikTok, Big Tech rivals and slowing growth globally. Edited excerpts: