iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
An Indian-origin executive has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of US-based fintech startup Bolt.
Maju Kuruvilla had joined the San Francisco-based startup as its chief technology officer in January 2021 after working for e-commerce giant Amazon for nearly eight years. In August, he was promoted to the position of chief operating officer.
While he is now rooted in SanFrancisco, Kuruvilla actually has roots in Karnataka.
Announcing Kuruvilla’s appointment as CEO on February 1, the company’s founder Ryan Breslow said his talents included building world-class teams and “executing relentlessly and scaling globally”.
Breslow described Kuruvilla as someone who is revered at Bolt. “With already a majority of the company reporting into him, I asked myself the question: Why not 100% of the company?” the Bolt founder tweeted.
Breslow described Kuruvilla as someone who is revered at Bolt. “With already a majority of the company reporting into him, I asked myself the question: Why not 100% of the company?” the Bolt founder tweeted.
Breslow said Kuruvilla had completely changed the trajectory of Bolt in his previous roles. “Now as CEO, we can’t wait to see him unleashed,” Breslow added. “It’s going to be an epic ride.”
The Bolt founder said that as executive chairman, he will focus on more deals, acquisitions, fundraising, and work culture.
“Some news sources say I resigned,” Breslow added. “I am not going anywhere. We are not stopping until Bolt completely and definitively democratizes all of commerce.”
Meanwhile, Kuruvilla thanked Breslow for his role. “Thank you for trusting me and giving me an opportunity to be part of the amazing Bolt story,” he said. “So excited about the future. Let’s decentralize commerce.”
Kuruvilla had studied computer engineering from Mangalore University in Karnataka before getting a Masters of Business Administration degree from the University of Washington. He then joined Amazon as Vice President. He managed all global logistics (referred to as Global Mile), as well as all Amazon Prime fulfillment technology teams worldwide. In his role he looked after the entire business unit spanning business, product, engineering, and operations.
He rose through ranks at Amazon, becoming one of the company’s fastest-rising engineering stars. He eventually led one of the largest global engineering teams at the company – a team consisting of thousands, claims a blog post put up by Bolt.
Kuruvilla had joined the startup Bolt as its chief technology officer in January 2021 after nearly eight years with Amazon.
Speaking about his move to Bolt, Kuruvilla stated in a LinkedIn post, “I’ve always been attracted to complex problems, and how to use technology to simplify and improve the world around me…. Selling and buying things online is not easy, unless you are shopping at an e-commerce giant like Amazon.”
He added that only a few companies can afford to build the entire stack and keep up with consumer expectations. “This is where Bolt comes in. Bolt provides a simple one-click checkout experience for shoppers,” Kuruvilla said.
And although he keeps a relatively low profile on social media, Bolt’s founder Ryan Breslow said while announcing his recent promotion that Kuruvilla’s talents included building world-class teams and “executing relentlessly and scaling globally”.