Movers and Shakers Of The Week [10 -15 Feb]

We bring to you the latest edition of movers and shakers of the week in the Indian startup ecosystem.

Deep Kalra, the group CEO of MakeMyTrip, has announced that he is stepping down from the role, with MMT cofounder Rajesh Magow taking over the lead. Magow, who was leading the India business of the online travel agency, will now be given the reins of the entire business.emye

Kalra, one of India’s most revered startup entrepreneurs and an active angel investor, will serve as executive chairman on the MakeMyTrip board, the company said in a statement. Kalra is expected to drive strategic initiatives, including product innovation and expansion, geographic growth, business model innovation and corporate development, in his new role, the statement added.

“We believe that separating the roles of Group CEO and Executive Chairman will allow us to focus more on long-term strategic opportunities within and outside India, while maintaining our market-leading position in our existing businesses,” Kalra said.

Here’s a look at the other important movers and shakers of the week

Myntra Appoints Raghu Krishnananda

Myntra has appointed Raghu Krishnananda as its chief technology officer. Prior to taking up this position, Krishnananda was the head of service platforms at Samsung Research Institute.

Krishnananda has over two decades of experience in technology, leading teams in design, product development, technology strategy and program management. “His vast experience in the technology domain, backed by strong technology expertise will help us to bring innovation and value additions for our customers,” said Amar Nagaram, head of Myntra.

Flipkart-owned Myntra is an online marketplace for fashion products. The company has partnered with over 3000 leading fashion and lifestyle brands which it sells on the online platform.

Hero Electric Appoints Piyush Prasad

Hero Electric has appointed Piyush Prasad as the national business head of the company. In his new role, Prasad will be responsible for the overall business growth, expanding product sales, and will oversee the customer satisfaction program for Hero Electric.

Prasad has an overall experience of over 20 years. He has been credited for his significant contribution to the growth of the automobile industry in India. In his new role, he will be responsible for strategically leading Hero Electric’s business across Tier 1, 2, 3 and beyond markets as the brand aims to further spread awareness for electric vehicles in the region.

Hero Electric is one of the major players of electric mobility and the largest electric two-wheeler manufacturer in India.

EV Motors India Appoints Arvind Gujral

EV Motors India has appointed Arvind Gujral as the chief executive officer of the EV charging infrastructure. With the aim to expand the EV charging infrastructure business, Gujral will strategically support the setting up of EV charging franchise network across India.

Gujral comes with an experience of more than three decades in sales, business development, operations, general management, and leadership with large organisations in the power sector and consumer businesses.

In the past, he has been associated with prominent companies such as CESC, an RPG group company and BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd. He is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Varanasi and the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

Xoxoday Appoints IBM’s Ben O’Sullivan

Bengaluru-based Xoxoday has appointed Ben O’Sullivan as sales director for the UK and Europe markets. In his current role, O’Sullivan will also focus on building synergies for expansion of the existing businesses in Europe.

Prior to his current role, O’Sullivan worked with IBM Europe where he led a sales team deploying cloud and AI solutions in commercial and enterprise sectors across Europe.

Xoxoday is a SaaS company which provides solutions to mid and large enterprises to manage their rewards and incentives.

WATConsult Appoints Mahesh Nazare

WATConsult has appointed Mahesh Nazare as the new director of HR, learning and development (L&D). In his new role, Nazare will oversee the HR vertical at WATConsult with a strong focus on L&D. He will also mentor the team to build and ensure a robust and better organisational culture within the agency.

With more than 18 years of experience across the Indian and Asian diaspora, Nazare specialises in leadership and management development, creative thinking, communication and effective team building. Nazare has closely worked and trained mid-to-senior management teams across different industries and verticals.

WATConsult is a digital agency which is a subsidiary of Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN).

Aviso Appoints Joy Mustafi As Chief Scientist

Aviso has appointed artificial intelligence and machine learning researcher Joy Mustafi as the chief scientist of the company. The former principal researcher for Salesforce’s Einstein platform, Mustafi will leverage his decades of experience to help Aviso customers accelerate deal-closing and expand revenue opportunities.

Mustafi has led data science research at tech giants including Salesforce, Microsoft, and IBM, winning 50 patents and authoring over 25 publications on AI. Mustafi is also the founder and president of MUST Research, a non-profit organisation promoting excellence in the fields of data science, cognitive computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced analytics for the benefit of society.

California-based Aviso is an AI-powered sales guidance and forecasting platform.

Stay tuned for the next edition of Movers and Shakers of the week!