The new independent directors are Kalpana Morparia, Hari S Bhartia, Surojit Chatterjee, and Rohit Bhagat, each bringing extensive experience in areas such as technology, finance, entrepreneurship, and governance practices
Bengaluru: Indian e-commerce marketplace Meesho has appointed four independent directors to its board including Kalpana Morparia, Hari S Bhartia, Surojit Chatterjee, and Rohit Bhagat, the company announced on Friday.
Each new member brings extensive experience in areas like technology, finance, entrepreneurship, and governance practices.
“As we embark on the next phase of growth, I am thrilled to announce the appointment of Surojit Chatterjee, Kalpana Morparia, Rohit Bhagat, and Hari S. Bhartia as independent directors to Meesho’s board,” said Vidit Aatrey, founder of Meesho.
“We are confident that their collective wisdom and diverse perspectives will play a pivotal role in steering the company towards new milestones and sustained success in revolutionising the e-commerce landscape in India,” he added.
One of the new members, Bhartia, is the founder of the Jubilant Bhartia Group, which runs four flagship companies: Jubilant Pharmova Ltd., Jubilant Ingrevia Ltd., Jubilant Industries Ltd., and Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd., the master franchisee for Domino’s Pizza and Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants in India.
Morparia, a veteran in India’s financial sector with over 45 years of experience, has held significant roles at companies like JPMorgan South and South East Asia, and ICICI Bank Ltd. She currently serves as an independent non-executive director on the boards of HSBC Holdings, Hindustan Unilever Ltd., and Philip Morris International Inc.
Bhagat is currently the non-executive chairman of the board at PhonePe, an independent director at AssetMark, and the lead independent trustee of the Franklin Templeton ETF Trust. His previous board and advisory roles span companies like Axis Bank, Flipkart, and FreeCharge.
Chatterjee is the founder of Ema, a generative AI company based out of San Francisco. In 2021, he guided Coinbase through an IPO as its chief product officer. He previously held positions at Google as vice president and head of product.
Meesho’s board already includes co-founders Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal, Ashutosh Sharma, head of investments at Prosus Ventures, Mohit Bhatnagar, managing director at Peak XV Partners, Mukul Arora, co-managing partner at Elevation Capital, and Sarthak Misra, partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers.
Founded in 2015 by IIT Delhi graduates Barnwal and Aatrey, Softbank-backed Meesho has a vision to enable 100 million small businesses. The company provides small businesses, which includes SMBs, MSMEs, and individual entrepreneurs, access to millions of customers, a platform of 30 categories, pan-India logistics, payment services, and customer support capabilities to run their businesses on the Meesho ecosystem.
