PayTM adds Alibaba director Guru Gowrappan to its board

Indian mobile payment and commerce company, Paytm has announced the addition of K. Guru Gowrappan, Global Managing Director of the Alibaba Group to its board as an Additional Director. Earlier, ex-Google Head of Search Amit Singhal and Goldman Sachs APAC chairman Mark Schwartz were added to the board.

Speaking on the announcement, 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.”

“I am honored 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.”

At Alibaba, Guru is responsible for driving strong growth and is in charge of international product and business development strategy. At Paytm, he will be regularly engaging with business, product and tech teams to ensure strong and scalable growth for the company. With more than 15 years of experience in the Internet industry, Guru has served as the COO for mobile search engine Quixey and Zynga, a social gaming company earlier. In addition, he is also the 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.