Snap

Snap Inc. is the company behind Snapchat, a camera and messaging app. Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy and Reggie Brown created it at Stanford in 2011, first under the name Picaboo. Snap is based in Santa Monica, California.

Snapchat's early appeal was messages that disappear after viewing. The app later added Stories, which last one day, along with Snap Map, Spotlight videos and Lenses. Lenses are augmented reality filters that change a face or scene in the camera view. Snapchat is especially popular among teenagers and young adults.

Snap makes money from advertising and from Snapchat+ subscriptions. It also sells Spectacles, glasses with a built-in camera and augmented reality features. The company went public in 2017. It has faced criticism and legal action over child safety and drug sales on the platform. Spiegel is chief executive and Murphy is chief technology officer. Snap turned down a purchase offer from Facebook in 2013. The company reports in US dollars and trades on the New York Stock Exchange, and it keeps a large engineering office in London.