BS People: Aakash Moondhra

Lending experience to e-commerce: Meet the CFO of Snapdeal

Aakash Moondhra, who joined e-commerce portal Snapdeal as its CFO last month, is a man of many facets. Starting as an entrepreneur, Moondhra has worked across sectors, from banking to consulting to telecom to retail to private equity, and now, e-commerce. This has given him diverse exposure and a wide range of experience.

In a span of 15 years, he has worked with ANZ Grindlays Bank, Accenture, AT&T, Bharti Retail, Infrasoft Technologies, Baring Private Equity Partners and Nokia, in various capacities. Before joining Snapdeal, Moondhra was with the casual wear retail chain, V-Mart Retail, as an independent director and the CIO of I-Farm Ventures, an equity investment firm focusing on food and agriculture sector.

Why e-commerce? “1.5 years back, I was keen to venture into e-commerce. Now, as Snapdeal was looking for people with experience to get its process in place, it worked well. It is a young and dynamic team,’’ Moondhra said. “Also, my experience as an entrepreneur in retail, tech and media fits in well with this job,” he added.

Between 1998 and 2000, Moodhra was in the furniture retail business in Indore, before stepping into the corporate world. An MBA, a chartered accountant and a company secretary, Mundhra believes his diverse skills will come in handy in his current job.

On his new role, Moondhra said he would be responsible for the supply of capital, driving processes in finance and helping the management make the right decisions. “Right now, my focus is to take the company to the next level, and create a larger B-C platform,” he said.

An avid reader, Moondhra is a keen follower of Hindi literature and reads anything he lays his hands on. His other love is running — he ran for the Gurgaon half-marathon last year. His new employer would hope the new CFO brings the stamina and skills to sustain and grow the business for the long run.