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Snapdeal names Jason Kothari as FreeCharge CEO
To invest $20 million
Snapdeal, run by Jasper Infotech, on Monday elevated its chief strategy and business officer Jason Kothari as the chief executive officer of Freecharge. The company also committed to invest $20 million in the payment business. Kothari, the former CEO of Housing.com, joined Snapdeal in January following the merger of SoftBank-backed Locon Solutions, which runs Housing.com, with PropTiger (Elara Technologies).
Besides continuing in his role at Snapdeal, Kothari will take up the additional charge at Freecharge, and will also become a director at the latter. The Softbank-backed Snapdeal acquired FreeCharge in April 2015 at a valuation of around $450 million. Assuming the charge, Kothari said the digital payments space in India is forecasted to be over $1 trillion by 2025.
“I’m excited to join the talented team at FreeCharge at such a high-growth and dynamic time in the industry, and expect FreeCharge to continue to play a key role in this digital payments revolution,” he said. The company will use the additional $20 million to investment to further ramp up its technology prowess. “The investment will further accelerate innovations and growth,” Snapdeal said in a statement.
New to the board
In an another development, Japanese conglomerate Softbank has appointed its most experienced ecommerce veteran Kabir Mishra to the Board of ecommerce firm Snapdeal to support the company. According to sources familiar with the development, Mishra’s appointment comes at a time Snapdeal is working hard to hit profitability in the next two years. Besides making structural changes by moving away from non-core activities, Snapdeal recently announced a number of steps, including layoffs,” said a source.
Mishra has for many years been closely involved in managing Softbank’s investment in Alibaba in China. He also played an anchor role in managing Softbank’s investment in Indonesian ecommerce major Tokopedia. He also involved in South Korean firm Coupang, where Softbank invested $1 billion in June 2015.
Besides continuing in his role at Snapdeal, Kothari will take up the additional charge at Freecharge, and will also become a director at the latter. The Softbank-backed Snapdeal acquired FreeCharge in April 2015 at a valuation of around $450 million. Assuming the charge, Kothari said the digital payments space in India is forecasted to be over $1 trillion by 2025.
“I’m excited to join the talented team at FreeCharge at such a high-growth and dynamic time in the industry, and expect FreeCharge to continue to play a key role in this digital payments revolution,” he said. The company will use the additional $20 million to investment to further ramp up its technology prowess. “The investment will further accelerate innovations and growth,” Snapdeal said in a statement.
New to the board
In an another development, Japanese conglomerate Softbank has appointed its most experienced ecommerce veteran Kabir Mishra to the Board of ecommerce firm Snapdeal to support the company. According to sources familiar with the development, Mishra’s appointment comes at a time Snapdeal is working hard to hit profitability in the next two years. Besides making structural changes by moving away from non-core activities, Snapdeal recently announced a number of steps, including layoffs,” said a source.
Mishra has for many years been closely involved in managing Softbank’s investment in Alibaba in China. He also played an anchor role in managing Softbank’s investment in Indonesian ecommerce major Tokopedia. He also involved in South Korean firm Coupang, where Softbank invested $1 billion in June 2015.
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(Published 20 March 2017, 18:25 IST)
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