Snapdeal appoints Jason Kothari as FreeCharge CEO

E-commerce major Snapdeal announced the appointment of Jason Kothari as the Chief Executive Officer of FreeCharge and a commitment to invest an additional USD 20 million in the company.

In addition to his appointment, Jason will continue his key leadership role as Chief Strategy and Investment Officer at Snapdeal. He will also join the Board of Directors of FreeCharge.

"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 and entrepreneur who has already been the CEO of two successful companies," said Kunal Bahl, Co-founder and CEO, Snapdeal.

Most recently, Kothari was CEO of Softbank-backed online real estate company Housing.com. Under his stewardship, Housing.com changed its business strategy and plan, raised an additional round of funding from lead investor Softbank, and achieved key operating results, such as increasing revenue by 400 percent. During this period, the company also won multiple awards for reputation management.

Prior to joining Housing.com, Kothari was CEO and 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. Valiant raised USD 140 million from leading strategic investors, including the former CEO of Marvel Entertainment and Chinese media conglomerate DMG Entertainment.

"The digital payments space in India is forecasted to be over USD one 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," said Kothari.