Social media giant Snap has appointed Pulkit Trivedi, former director of Google Pay, as chief executive for India operations. Trivedi will report to Ajit Mohan, who joined Snap last year as Asia Pacific head.

“We are very pleased to welcome Pulkit Trivedi to the Snap team as Managing Director for Snap India. Pulkit will be responsible for leading the organization’s Indian operations, including supporting customers and partners and nurturing the creator ecosystem. “By finding ways to drive outsized growth for our partners, we can continue to delight our growing community of over 200 million Snapchatters in India,” Mohan said in a LinkedIn post. Contribution.

As part of his role, Trivedi will also drive revenue generation, partner support and empowerment of the creator community in India.

The reorganization is said to be part of Snap’s attempt to further localize its operations in India. The company asked the local team to report directly to Trivedi. With over 23 years of experience, Trivedi has also worked with Meta, Intel, Microsoft and IBM.

“I am incredibly excited about my new role. India is at an extraordinary stage of digital growth and this opportunity will allow us to build something meaningful for our community and businesses in India. Thank you everyone for your warm wishes,” says Trivedi.

India, like its peers, is one of Snap’s most important markets. In June, the company announced that it now reaches more than 200 million Indians every month. “Building a localized platform experience and developing local content for Indian users has been critical to this growth and I am excited about the future of Snapchat and our Indian community, our developers, customers and partners,” said Mohan.

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said last year that the company’s expansion plan in India is helping Snap gain a foothold in new emerging markets. Notably, the Santa Monica-based social media company announced last August that it would cut headcount by 20%, restructure its advertising sales unit, and halt projects like mobile games and novelties amid easing global macroeconomic uncertainties. The company also announced the appointment of three new presidential positions in the advertising sales unit, which will oversee the US, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific markets.

Remarkably, the development comes almost a year after Mohan stepped down as head of Meta India to join Snap. Mohan joined Meta India and then Facebook India in January 2019 as Managing Director. During his tenure, India added 200 million users for WhatsApp and Instagram.