Flipkart long-timer Amitesh Jha to lead logistics arm eKart

By Disha Sharma

  • 31 Aug 2017
Credit: Reuters

Homegrown e-commerce firm Flipkart has entrusted long-timer Amitesh Jha with leading its logistics arm eKart just ahead of the festive sale season, media reports said.

Jha, who joined the e-tailer in November 2010 as assistant vice president – computers, has worked in various roles since. His most recent position was vice president – mobile, electronics, and computers, shows his LinkedIn profile.

Amitesh Jha
According to a report in The Times of India, this would not be Jha's first stint at eKart—he has worked with the team previously as well.

Email queries sent to Flipkart did not elicit an immediate response.

Till May, Flipkart COO Nitin Seth was heading eKart. After his abrupt departure, eKart and other corporate functions were reporting to CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy, the report added.

Earlier this month, eKart CFO Harish Abhichandani, and vice president of operations Neeraj Aggarwal also left the company to join cab-hailing firm Ola.

Over the past few months, Flipkart has seen a number of top-level exits, such as eKart head Saikiran Krishnamurthy, chief marketing officer Samardeep Subandh, and senior vice president of product management Surojit Chatterjee. In October last year, chief financial officer Sanjay Baweja resigned. Prior to that, in April 2016, chief product officer Punit Soni had quit just after a year of joining.

Earlier this month, in the biggest-ever private investment in an Indian technology company, Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp pumped $2.4 billion (Rs 15,300 crore) into Flipkart via its $93-billion Vision Fund. The round valued Flipkart at $11.6 billion, down about a fourth from its $15.2-billion peak valuation in 2015. Flipkart’s other major investors include Tiger Global, Naspers Group, Accel Partners and DST Global.

The investment came after a proposed merger between rival Snapdeal and Flipkart fell through after six months of discussions.

Besides its logistics arm eKart, the Flipkart Group includes online fashion brands Myntra and Jabong, digital payments entity PhonePe and e-commerce marketplace eBay.