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In addition to taking on the role of the CEO, Kothari will continue his key leadership role as Chief Strategy & Investment Officer at Snapdeal
Snapdeal, one of India’s largest e-commerce companies in India, today announced the appointment of Jason Kothari as the CEO of FreeCharge, its digital wallet and mobile recharging business.
Snapdeal has also invested an additional US$20 million into FreeCharge, which it acquired in 2015 for US$200 million.
In addition to taking on the role of the CEO, Kothari will continue his key leadership role as Chief Strategy & Investment Officer at Snapdeal. He will also join the Board of Directors of FreeCharge.
Kunal Bahl, Co-founder & CEO, Snapdeal, said, “As India moves towards a cashless and digital economy, we are certain that FreeCharge will play a pivotal role in the transition. We remain committed to the success and vision of FreeCharge. Jason is a strong, strategic and versatile business leader & entrepreneur who has already been the CEO of two successful companies.”
Most recently, Kothari was CEO of SoftBank-backed online real-estate company Housing.com, where he led the successful turnaround of the company from a position of distress to a market leader in one and a half years using organic and inorganic growth. Under his stewardship, Housing.com changed its business strategy & plan, raised an additional round of funding from lead investor Softbank, and achieved key operating results, such as increasing revenue by 400 per cent.
Prior to joining Housing.com, Kothari was CEO & Vice Chairman of character-based entertainment company Valiant Entertainment, where he led the successful acquisition out of bankruptcy and turnaround of the Company resulting in a record return in the industry and media recognition calling the Company “Marvel 2.0”. Valiant raised US$140 million from leading strategic investors, including the former CEO of Marvel Entertainment and Chinese media conglomerate DMG Entertainment.
Kothari said: “The digital payments space in India is forecasted to be over US$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.”
FreeCharge is a digital payment services for making prepaid recharges, postpaid bills, DTH recharges, broadband recharges, utility bill payments such as electricity across nearly 25 distribution companies, gas and water. In addition, consumers can use their FreeCharge wallet to pay for their fuel purchases, travel and commute bookings, food delivery and dining, movie and event tickets, shopping needs across leading offline and online merchants.
