Movers And Shakers Of The Week [12 June -17 June]

The week saw six startup hires in companies including PaytmMall, UCWeb, Uber, Times Bridge, and Innov8.

Innov8 Appoints Co-founder Shailesh Gupta as CEO

Coworking space Innov8 has elevated Shailesh Gupta, one of the two co-founders, as CEO while Dr. Ritesh Malik will become the MD of the company.

Shailesh Gupta, an IIT graduate, a serial entrepreneur and an angel investor, brings in entrepreneurial experience from the Valley with his last venture Workplace (Airbnb for Offices).

His experience in growth, strategy, and product thinking has been the key driving force behind the success of Innov8. In his new role, he will spearhead strategy, partnerships, and foster new talent to support the growth of Innov8.

Times Bridge Appoints Thane Richard As Head of Content Strategy

The Times Group has appointed  Thane Richard as Times Bridge’s Head of Content Strategy. In his role with The Times Group, Thane will shape content strategy for Times Bridge’s media businesses, while also attracting more of the world’s leading storytellers to the Indian market. Richard will oversee Media Businesses in Times Group’s Growing International Portfolio.

Thane Richard is a media entrepreneur and journalist with unique exposure to technology in both India and the United States.

A graduate of Brown University, Thane began his career in India as a strategy manager at Mahindra and Mahindra where he independently launched “Tiffin Talk,” a news and current events podcast. In 2014, he returned to India to cover the general election for Quartz while they opened their India division. Also, he has earlier been associated with brands like Chicago-based startup Outernet, and Quicken Loans Family of Companies.

Thane is a passionate creator and has also founded a tactile-journalism start-up Jaunt, the Detroit chapter of the Awesome Foundation and education non-profit Project Empathy.

Uber Makes Key Hires In India

Ride sharing app Uber, appointed Jaiteerth Patwari as Senior Engineering Leader at Uber’s engineering centre in Hyderabad. With 22 years of experience in product development, product innovation and management, Jaiteerth will focus on developing scalable distributed real-time business platforms.

In his previous role, Jaiteerth was heading the LeMall R&D division at LeEco. Prior to which, he worked with Qualcomm for over 14 years, where he developed award-winning patents recognised by the US Patent and Trademark Office for innovations related to content monetisation and distribution.

He was also involved in successfully rolling out the world’s first Qualcomm mobile application store and enterprise messaging products. Before moving to India and setting up the Qualcomm Internet Division in Hyderabad, Jaiteerth was based out of California and has worked for companies like Netscape.

Besides Jaiteerth, the company appointed Viral Jhaveri as the General Manager for UberEATS in Mumbai. Earlier, Viral played a key role in transforming the rides business in Gujarat.

In his current role, Viral leads operations, marketing, and sales for UberEATS in Mumbai. He joined Uber in November 2015 as GM for the rides business in Gujarat, where he was responsible for launching and strengthening the operations in Ahmedabad, Surat, and Vadodara.

With over eight years of experience, he’s worked across sectors like ecommerce, retail, aerospace and food-tech.

Damon Xi Joins As Head of UCWeb India, Indonesia

Alibaba Mobile Business Group, part of Alibaba Digital Media and Entertainment, has announced the appointment of Damon Xi as Head of UCWeb India and Indonesia office. In his new role, Damon will be in charge of the UCWeb ecosystem along with content cooperation within the India and Indonesia markets.

Prior to this, Damon was General Manager of UCWeb India, leading strategic alliance and business development for the company in India.

In a significant restructuring announced last month, Alibaba Digital Media and Entertainment Group elevated Jack Huang to President of Alibaba Mobile Business Group and Young Li as Head of International Business Department at Alibaba Mobile Business Group.

Paytm Mall Appoints Amit Sinha As Chief Operating Officer

Paytm Mall has appointed Amit Sinha as the Chief Operating Officer (COO).  He will be responsible for overall operations of Paytm Mall.

He will also help in further expanding the team to ensure customers have access to the widest assortment of products across categories, delivered quickly through an efficient and optimised partner logistics network.

Amit has earlier served in several key business roles in Paytm and helped implement critical business, HR and financial processes for the company.