Abhijit Bose appointed head of Whatsapp India, to join early 2019

A product of Harvard Business School and Cornell University, he was earlier co-founder and CEO of electronic payment firm Ezetap; will build WhatsApp's first full country team outside of California

Messenger app Whatsapp announced the appointment of Abhijit Bose as Head of WhatsApp India. Bose will build WhatsApp's first full country team outside of California and will be based in Gurgaon.
 
Bose and his team will focus on helping businesses, both large and small connect with their customers. Earlier this year, WhatsApp released the WhatsApp Business app for small business owners and the WhatsApp Business API to serve larger businesses that engage with customers at scale. Today, there are over one million users of these WhatsApp business products in India.
 
“WhatsApp is deeply committed to India and we are excited to keep building products that help people connect and support India's fast-growing digital economy. As a successful entrepreneur himself, Abhijit knows what it takes to build meaningful partnerships that can serve businesses across India,” said Matt Idema, Chief Operating Officer of WhatsApp. 

 
Whatsapp, like its parent Facebook, has been facing difficulty in filling senior positions in India due to the large number of legal and regulatory concerns that the company has been subjected to. Facebook recently announced the appointment of Ajit Mohan, the chief executive officer of Star India's over-the-top video service Hotstar has been named Facebook India's vice-president and managing director. 
 
With Whatsapp being increasingly viewed as a tool for mass mobilization and the government scrutinizing Whatsapp’s role in proliferation of unchecked rumours and provocative messages, the company has been seeking to appoint an India head for some time. Earlier In September, Whatsapp had appointed a grievance officer for India after facing pressure from the government. 

 
Bose joins WhatsApp from electronic payment company Ezetap where he served as co-founder and CEO. Bose is a graduate of Harvard Business School and Cornell University and will join WhatsApp in early 2019. Apart from having over 200 million users in India, Whatsapp is actively seeking to expand its payment services in India.