Uber hires 3 top executives in India

Taxi-hailing app Uber has hired three top executives to its Indian management team to strengthen its business development, engineering and communication arms as it looks to build a local team to take on market leader Ola.

Apurva Dalal joined as the head of India engineering team last month, and is currently building a team in Bengaluru. He was earlier chief technology officer at online furniture retailer Urban Ladder, and before that, he led the Google India Development Centre.

Mahesh Bhalla joins Uber as head of business development from Qwikcilver, a gifting solutions company, where he had served as president. Prior to that, he was the executive director of Dell’s Consumer & SMB business in India, where he was the architect of Dell’s consumer strategy.

Abhishek Mahapatra has moved from Ford Motors in Shanghai, China, to Gurgaon to head the communications team at Uber India.

The company, which was a strength of hundred-plus employees last year, today stands at over six hundred. The ramp-up in hiring underlines Uber’s commitment to make India-focused decisions and win the market, which has become more crucial for the startup, especially after losing out in China.

India was one of the first markets for Uber globally where it appointed a country head, roping in Amit Jain last year. Since then, the San Francisco-based company, which is valued over $62 billion, has started building a local team. Otherwise, Uber has been known for its lean global expansion, with teams of just 3-4 executives in each city and using its global technology.

 

SOURCE: PTI