Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, has employed its first person in Germany as it looks to expand its business further into Europe.
The LA-headquartered tech firm, which listed on the New York Stock Exchange at $33 billion (£27 billion) earlier this month, hired Hamburg-based Jolanta Twarowska from Twitter in January, according to LinkedIn and two other sources.
Twarowska wrote on her LinkedIn profile that she is a senior account exec working on advertising sales at the photo-sharing firm. She did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
Snap is also interested in hiring ex-Pinterest country manager Jan Honsel, possibly as managing director of its Germany business, according to two Business Insider sources. However, when Honsel was asked if he was joining the company, he told Business Insider: "For some reason this rumour keeps spreading but it isn't the case."
Snap hopes to have five to 10 people in Germany by the end of 2017, according to a source, who said all the roles will be in sales.
In a bid to get its new Germany sales operation off the ground, Snap interviewed everyone that left Twitter in Berlin at the end of last year, according to a source. It's unclear if Snap is planning to hire anyone else from Twitter beyond Twarowska.
Snap doesn't yet have a physical office in Germany but it has been looking for one, according to a source. The office is likely to be in Hamburg or Berlin. German newspaper Bild reported last September that Snap was planning to open an office on the banks of the River Elbe in Hamburg, saying that the company was seeking a space for a maximum of 20 staff.
The team that Snap is planning to hire will be largely responsible for signing up publishers onto its "Discover" platform, which will launch in Germany on April 25, according to a source.
Discover allows publishers to push their content at Snapchat's millions of users in exchange for a fee. Discover will launch in Germany with Vice, Spiegel Online, and possibly German teen magazine Bravo, a source said.
There are currently no job listings on Snapchat's website for roles in Germany but there is a job ad on Vice's website for an editorial person working on Snapchat.
Snap declined to comment on this story.
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