Ezetap co-founder Abhijit Bose to head WhatsApp India

Facebook Inc-owned messaging service WhatsApp on Wednesday announced the appointment of Abhijit Bose, the co-founder of Ezetap, as its India's head.

Bose’s appointment is the first for WhatsApp to build its full country team outside California and will be based in Gurgaon, the company said in a statement.

According to the official report, the co-founder and CEO of electronic payments company Ezetap, will join early next year. Bose and his team will focus on helping businesses, both large and small, connect with their customers, it added.

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“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,” Chief Operating Officer of WhatsApp Matt Idema said.

“WhatsApp is special and can be a major partner for financial inclusion and economic growth in India. It’s not only how so many families stay in touch, but increasingly its how businesses are engaging with their customers. WhatsApp can positively impact the lives of hundreds of millions of Indians, allowing them to actively engage and benefit from the new digital economy,” Abhijit Bose said.

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Bose’s appointment comes around two months after the company named Komal Lahir, a US-based, as its grievance officer for India. The app-based messaging company has been drawing flakes from the government to devise ways to trace the origin of fake messages circulated on the platform, set up a local corporate entity and appoint a grievance officer, in order to curb the spread of deadly rumours that have claimed several lives.

While a US-based grievance officer has been appointed, WhatsApp has sought to address rumour-mongering on its platform by flagging forwarded messages with an explicit “forwarded” label to clarify when a text had not originated from the sender.

A graduate of Harvard Business School and Cornell University, Bose’s has over 17 years of work experience in product management, marketing and business development with expertise in software and mobile markets, it said.

(With inputs from agencies)