Snap Inc. is putting some muscle behind Snapchat’s Snap Map feature with its acquisition of New York-based startup StreetCred, which had been working on a location data platform.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The existing StreetCred platform will be shuttered, and four members of its team will join Snap, including co-founders Randy Meech and Diana Shkolnikov.
Prior to StreetCred, Meech and Shkolnikov were with Mapzen, Samsung’s now-defunct open mapping subsidiary, as CEO and engineering director, respectively. Meech was also senior vice president for local and mapping at AOL.
Snap said its new additions from StreetCred will work on emerging product areas around Snap Map, the personalized location-based feature it introduced in June 2017 as a way to let Snapchatters see where their friends are on a map (opt-in required), along with publicly submitted Snaps from the map area and Places, added last June to highlight local businesses.
They will also work on augmented reality location experiences, including local lenses, and other early-stage areas of map development.