• by Colin Kirkland , 9 hours ago

Snapchat is opening a new 4,000-square-meter office in Paris, in an effort to expand its influence across more regions in Europe, starting in France.

Snap calls France “one of the most dynamic and strategic markets” for its business. 

Located in the heart of Paris, Snap’s new office space will become a home-base for over 100 employees already stationed in France, where the company has been established for almost a decade. 

With 27 million monthly active users, France has become Snapchat’s largest European market by almost 10 million monthly active users, behind Germany, which has 19 million. 

Snap says that over the years, France has provided a notable “ecosystem of partnerships,” with various media outlets, cultural institutions, creators and brands involved in Snap campaigns and partnerships. 

Augmented reality (AR) -- one of Snap’s defining characteristics in the social landscape -- is also a major consideration for setting up a new office space in Paris.

The company notes that the “AR Studio Paris” CEO Evan Spiegel announced in 2021 has already become an incubator for “educational, cultural, or societal” projects, helping showcase local AR creatives as well as forging ties with major French forces like the Louvre and Daft Punk. 

To celebrate the opening of its new office, Snap’s AR Studio Paris invited French artist Charles Pétillon, who launched an original work highlighting the convergence of real and virtual worlds. The studio will now be taking artists for a residency program focused on artmaking with support from the AR developer community. 

Snap says that the work that comes out of the residency will be featured through the company’s AR glasses, otherwise known as “Spectacles.”