New Delhi, May 22 (IANS): Photo-messaging app Snapchat on Friday announced a partnership with community-based platform Skillenza to bring its first-ever Lensathon to India - an online hackathon open to national participation to create Augmented Reality (AR) experiences using Lens Studio.

Lens Studio is a free desktop app launched by Snapchat in 2017, that provides the tools and templates needed to build digital skills, create Lenses and share them on Snapchat.

Since its launch, over 900,000 Lenses have been made by the community all over the world.

The Lensathon is an opportunity to add to this growth and breadth of experiences available on Snapchat.

"In the past year, we have worked closely with high schools and colleges across India, teaching digital skills to students through Lens Studio workshops. The Lensathon is another step in that direction," Juhi Bhatnagar, Strategy and Business Development Lead, India at Snap, said in a statement.

Participants can build multiple lenses with the limitation that the last 5 lenses submitted will be evaluated against the criteria.

All the Lensathon participants have the opportunity to attend webinars to learn Lens creation from the experts from the Lens team at Snapchat.

The most creative and original Lenses will stand a chance to join the Official Lens Creator program, alongside winning other cash prizes, swag and Snap Spectacles.