Mobile payment and commerce company, Paytm has announced that K. Guru Gowrappan, Global Managing Director of Alibaba Group will join its board as an Additional Director. This appointment comes on the back of last week’s announcements, where ex-Google Head of Search Amit Singhal and Goldman Sachs APAC chairman Mark Schwartz was appointed to the Board.
Guru is responsible for driving strong growth in Alibaba’s international markets. He is in charge of international product and business development strategy, which includes bringing all Alibaba products together into one final strategic plan and executing it in key markets. At Paytm, he will be regularly engaging with business, product and tech teams to ensure strong and scalable growth for the company.
Paytm founder, CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said, “It’s an incredible feeling to officially welcome Guru, a long-standing friend and ally to Paytm. We are at an important juncture in the company’s evolution, and Guru’s strong expertise in global business and product development will guide us through executing key strategic initiatives for the company.”
Guru has more than 15 years of experience in the Internet industry. Prior to Alibaba, he was the Chief Operating Officer at mobile search engine Quixey. He led Product, Business, and Marketing-based organizations and played a major role in the company’s global development and financial strategy.
Guru has served as the COO for emerging initiatives at Zynga, a social gaming company. He was elected the Head of Zynga Japan and drove the company to a successful IPO. He has also worked at Overture, where he helped define the multi-billion dollar search marketing industry.Once the firm was acquired by Yahoo, he held many leadership roles, most recently as Global Head of Product, Program Management, and Operations at Yahoo!
Guru was a co-founder of two Indian startups and an active angel investor and adviser. He has deep experience in various areas including global management and scaling, M&A integration operations, mobile product and technology management.
“I am honoured to join the board of a company I have observed and admired over the last couple of years,” said Guru. “It’s both exciting and fulfilling to be trusted with the opportunity to mentor the incredible team at Paytm as the company moves into the next chapter of its growth.”
Earlier in January this year, Amit Lakhotia, Vice President at Paytm, resigned from the company. Lakhotia had been heading the payments business at Paytm. In October, Paytm appointed Madhur Deora as its Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President, for building, managing, and expanding Paytm’s financial services business.
Additionally, Paytm’s new venture payments bank is scheduled for launch this Diwali. The company has reportedly collaborated with IndusInd Bank, ICICI Prudential, and HDFC Mutual Fund in order to offer services in the area of banking, insurance, and mutual funds, all of which require a strong core team and focus from senior members in the industry.
