Former LG Electronics VP Lakshmikant Gupta joins RedBus as CMO

RedBus.in, a bus-ticketing site owned by Pilani Soft Labs Pvt Ltd, has appointed Lakshmikant Gupta as its chief marketing officer (CMO). Prior to this role, Gupta was vice president (VP) and chief marketing officer (CMO) of LG Electronics India.

Gupta , who has over two decades of experience, has worked (apart from LG) with Procter & Gamble (brand manager, oral care), Gillette, Middle East and Africa (regional media and market research manager) and Indian Market Research Bureau. At LG, he was responsible for the overall brand and marketing strategy and was managing teams and initiatives including brand campaigns, public relations, corporate communications, sports sponsorships, digital marketing, customer relationship management (CRM), and media planning and buying. He holds a MBA degree in marketing from Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad and a BA (honours) degree in economics from Delhi University.

Bangalore-based RedBus was set up by Phanindra Sama (CEO), Charan Padmaraju and Sudhakar Pasupunuri in 2006. It offers online ticket-booking services through its website or over the phone and tickets can be home-delivered as well. In 2007, the company raised $1 million in angel funding from Seedfund, an early-stage investor, which was followed by an undisclosed second round from Inventus Capital Partners and Seedfund in July 2009.

In May 2011, it raised $6.5 million from Helion Venture Partners, Inventus Capital Partners and Seedfund in its Series C funding.

Last month, the company launched its Android app to enables users to book bus tickets via their mobile phones. It had also introduced a 'virtual bus stops' feature, which enables users to view bus stops across seven cities, along with their GPS locations on a map.

The company had in August 2012 appointed Bharat Singh as its chief financial officer (CFO). It had also partnered with online travel agency (OTA) Expedia Inc to power bus ticket booking functionality on Expedia.co.in.

(Edited by Prem Udayabhanu)