Ex-Twitter India exec Raheel Khursheed joins Snapchat as Country Expert, India

Three months after quitting Twitter India & South-East Asia  as Head- News Partnerships, Raheel Khursheed has joined Snap Inc. as Country Expert, India.

Khursheed had left the micro-blogging site to explore his interests across the intersection of consumer internet products, social impact and active citizenship, & food! The ex-Kashmiri Journalist announced his joining at Snapchat through a series of tweets. His role at Snapchat India involves developing and executing cross vertical growth programs, advising on key partnerships across verticals, communications and policy strategy.

I recently started an all encompassing role at @Snap - leading the market entry of the world’s largest camera app into the Indian landscape. My official designation is Country Expert, India. pic.twitter.com/tVvGpW2squ

— Raheel Khursheed (@Raheelk) October 4, 2018

@Snap is at an incredible crossroads in India. It has had a 75+ yoy growth and has a robust user base that indexes 55% female. This is a special thing and we intend to build on this. Stay tuned for more. pic.twitter.com/HxfaTQvt4h

— Raheel Khursheed (@Raheelk) October 4, 2018

Prior to joining Twitter, Khursheed helmed the role of Director- Communications at Change.org, Program Coordinator Youth RAFT Project at Mercy Corps. He was also associated with CNN-IBN and Times Now as Senior Correspondent.  

Also Read: Snapchat collaborates with Amazon for Visual Search

In a bid to strengthen its presence in India and increase the user base, it’s the first move by the popular photo chatting app by hiring the first Indian executive. It should also be noted that Khursheed’s appointment comes close on the heels of Instagram’s founders Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom’s departure from Facebook. Meanwhile, Instagram is doing every bit to outdo it’s competitions by launching similar camera filters and most recently the Nametags Scanning.

According to Factset, Snapchat’s daily active users rose to 187 million in the quarter that ended December 31 from 178 million in the third quarter, including a few millions in India which wasn't a priority till now. With Khursheed's appointment the focus has finally been tilted towards India with the executives analysing it’s potential in the market. It would be a wait and watch show to see what this appointment brings with it and will Instagram and Snapchat co-exist happily.