Snap debuted its developer platform two years ago, and although it has racked up several hundred integrations in third-party applications, the company is still looking to develop deeper relationships with developers on Snap Kit .
Today, the social media company announced Yellow Collabs. The 13-week distance program allows companies to delve deeper into integrating their applications with Snap Kit with a number of instructional paths based on their interests in specific elements of the platform. Companies can choose to work with Snap to integrate their applications with the entire Snap Kit platform, or deepen the vertical functions of Snap Minis, Dynamic Lenses, Scan or Snap ML.
The company opened applications for the new program today, which starts on September 21 and ends on December 18 of this year.
Snap's yellow division had previously hosted only its small startup accelerator that invests in start-up companies. The division, led by Mike Su and Alexandra Levitt, has so far started three batches of startups and is currently preparing deadlines for their fourth batch.
Although the yellow accelerator did not require admitted founders to integrate Snap Kit into their platforms, getting on-site assistance to do so has been a sale for some of the program's startups. Levitt told TipsClear that the accelerator should refuse applications from growing startups, large companies, and nonprofits that had good locations for Snap integrations but weren't ideal for the accelerator format . Levitt hopes this new program can help an ambitious developer get help getting the most out of the platform, while "providing a closer relationship with the Snap team."
"We hope this program can help introduce applications from businesses that may not have been able to run self-service," says Levitt.
Although the program is located inside Yellow, Snap will not make any investments or receive equity in the companies. Collabs aligns with the education component of the startup accelerator even if the objectives are a little different. It's an interesting marriage, and also a sign that Snap takes more seriously the creation of deeper partnerships and the creation of older links with companies on its development platform.