Cleartrip hires Indroneel Dutt and Ankit Rastogi as CFO and VP

India's leading online travel and leisure activities platform Cleartrip has announced the appointment of Indroneel Dutt and Ankit Rastogi as its CFO and Vice President - Hotels, respectively.

Indroneel will be based in Mumbai and will focus on optimising cost efficiencies and revenue streams for more resilient operations, while Ankit will spearhead the brand's hotel-based business out of Bangalore with a view of creating a more robust foundation of its core business.

The recent high-profile appointments by Cleartrip are in sync with its long-term growth strategy of pushing for the next phase of its growth by bolstering its leadership team with industry veterans.

Indroneel comes equipped with an in-depth knowledge of key business aspects such as finance, private equity, and investment banking. A veteran in software technology and M&As, he has previously worked with high-growth organisations such as Tata Consultancy Services and eFORCE Global, and has also been associated with a Private Equity fund as an operating partner.

Ankit, on the other hand, is an expert in the Indian hospitality and accommodation sector. He founded IndiaHotelReview in 2006 as a budget OTA targeting the Tier-II markets. Operational between 2007 and 2012, the venture received several awards and acclaims from the industry, including 'India's Top 15 Ecommerce Excellence Award' in December 2011 and 'Best Travel Site - 2008' by European Internet Agency.

Ankit has also championed mobile apps, mobile web, and desktop products at goibibo.com, where he was instrumental in setting up the Hotels and Holidays business from scratch. He joins Cleartrip from Stayzilla, where he was responsible for seeding, creating and executing the concept of an Alternate Stay accommodation marketplace. During his entrepreneurial stint, Ankit has also been featured in Young Turks and as CNBC TV18's Young Entrepreneur.

"We are looking to scale our operations and expand our market footprint by tapping into the hyperbolic growth trajectory that the hotel category is expected to witness. This requires intelligent products that are omni-present across multiple formats and are personalised to each consumer's need. Building such a product and sustaining it commercially will need deep domain knowledge and hands-on expertise. This is where veterans like Indroneel and Ankit come into the picture. With them on board, we are confident that Cleartrip will realize exponential growth and consolidate its leadership position in the lucrative markets of India and the Middle-East," said CHRO Cleartrip, Prasad Menon.

Cleartrip is also looking to augment its expertise in state-of-the-art technologies such as data sciences, machine learning, and NLP, and plans to expand its tech team by 50 percent over the next 75 days. Entry-level recruitment will comprise around 50 percent of fresh hires, while mid-level and senior-level appointments will each make up for 25 percent of the overall recruitment.

Most of the hiring will take place from Bangalore, which is home to the brand's technology, marketing, and design teams. Cleartrip will also deploy teams towards seeding new technology platforms such as trust and safety, data platform, and mobile web (progressive web apps).

"At Cleartrip, we constantly work on keeping our technology up-to-date to meet the latest standards in service delivery and to deliver the best travel booking experience to our users. Product tech talent comprises over 25 percent of our current employee base in India at present. Increasing the size of this team with around 100 more engineers is a strategic investment that will help us develop cutting-edge tech products which will herald trans-formative changes in the way travel and leisure is approached across the world," added Prasad.

Cleartrip has gained several awards and accolades for its technological and product differentiation over the years. Cleartrip Mobile was listed in Apple's App Store 'Best of 2014' and also featured as the 'Editor's Pick'. In 2016, Cleartrip received the coveted WIT ovation award in the Best Mobile category.