Gearing up for its planned expansion, Paytm seems to have hit the pedal to the metal. The company seems to be going through a serious shuffling in its top-tier management. Adding to the rapidly growing list of board members, the digital payments provider has today welcomed Alibaba Group’s global managing director K. Guru Gowrappan as an additional director.
This latest addition to the Paytm board is the fourth in the last couple of weeks. Guru Gowrappan will be responsible for guiding the business, product and technology teams at Paytm. The company has recently brought in some pretty experienced tech and finance veterans to the company board as it looks to spin-off its payments and e-commerce business in the coming months.
It has recently added Amit Singhal, the former head of Google Search and Mark Schwartz, the vice chairman of Goldman Sachs Group to its board. They both will be responsible for advising the team and helping them deliver better and more robust financial products.
Commenting on the addition of Gowrappan, Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma says,
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.
Alibaba Group and its finance arm Ant Financial are prominent backers and supporters of Paytm, and also currently hold about a 41 percent stake in the company. This move also comes at an important time for Alibaba, who is looking to tap the Indian e-commerce market in the next couple of months. It has already started hiring key top-tier officials to set up and bolster its operations in India.
Guru Gowrappan is a renowned name in the Indian startup ecosystem. He has not only served at the chief operating officer at a mobile search engine Quixey, but has also been an active angel investor and advisor to some of the largest Internet companies in the past 15 years.
Gowrappan currently serves as the global MD of the Alibaba Group and focuses on the products and strategy division for international markets. He is currently also working directly under CEO Jack Ma to lead the team and expand the e-commerce marketplace into India.
Commenting on his appointment to the board, K. Guru Gowrappan says,
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.
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