Snapchat acquires location analytics startup Placed in a $200 million deal

Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, has acquired Placed, a consumer location analytic startup, for ~$200 million. The acquisition of Placed will help Snap grow its location measurement technology. It is in sync with the company’s strategy as it recently released a tool called Snap to Store that allows its advertisers see whether their campaigns actually drove users to physical locations. Though Placed will continue to work as an independent firm for now.

David Shim, CEO and co-founder of Placed, commented that “Over the past 12 months, Placed has measured more than $500 million in media spend to store visits, across thousands of campaigns and hundreds of partners, cementing Placed as the leader in location-based attribution. By partnering with Snap, we will do even more”. Founded in 2011, it is a location-focused company that uses opt-in mobile panels to track foot traffic to stores for brands.

Adding on to the deal rationale, the company released a statement stating “Connecting online with offline is a problem that the advertising ecosystem has been working toward solving for a long time, and we share that goal. People use apps like Snapchat when they are out in the real world—not just when they are sitting behind a computer screen. Progress in this area will drive amazing results for advertisers and our community”.