Vserv appoints Shailesh Varudkar as VP, global business operations

Mumbai-based mobile marketing platform Vserv has appointed Shailesh Varudkar as its vice president (VP) of global business operations. In his new role, Varudkar will drive the company's global business operations with a strong focus on emerging markets. According to his LinkedIn profile, Varudkar was already working with the company as a consultant since April last year.

Commenting on the appointment, Dippak Khurana, co-founder and CEO, Vserv, said, "We are upbeat about the business opportunities in emerging markets. The experience Varudkar brings to the table will enable us to cohesively achieve our future goals in reaching out to the emerging connected billion mobile internet users and foster relevant partnerships. We are confident that his extensive experience in the telecom domain will help us further strengthen our business."

A veteran in the telecom space, Varudkar comes with 17 years of experience in developing and implementing business strategies for multiple telecom business verticals. He had previously been a key member of the Vodafone India commercial team, responsible for product management, product marketing, and relationships with device makers, OS players and chipset manufacturers, along with profit and loss (P&L) responsibility of the devices vertical. A BE in Electronics from Jawaharlal Nehru Engineering College, he also holds a MBA in Marketing from Institute Of Technology And Management.

"I look forward to applying my expertise in further strengthening Vserv's leadership as a leading smart data led mobile marketing platform across emerging markets," said Varudkar.

Founded in January 2010 by Khurana and Ashay Padwal, Vserv claimed that it was receiving 2.4 billion ad requests on a daily basis as of March 31, 2014. In its global territory, India is the biggest market with 27 per cent share, followed by Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. The company has offices in the US, the UK, South Africa, Dubai, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam, besides Mumbai in India. Vserv is backed by IDG Ventures and Epiphany Ventures.

The company is currently in advanced talks to raise up to $15 million in its Series B funding, and has also appointed Signal Hill as its advisor for the deal. It had earlier roped in Pranab Punj as its associate vice president for global marketing. Last month, the company had entered into a partnership with Indonesian telecom service provider XL Axiata Tbk to enable mobile entertainment marketers to target the most relevant audience, with the right ads at the right time, based on user personas and intent signals.

Earlier this year, Vserv launched 'search intent ads' to enable marketers to bag customers via in-ad search, besides a real time bidding platform on its mobile ad exchange. Previously, it also started enabling advertisers to reward consumers with mobile recharges for engaging with brands. It had also launched a new re-targeting product focused on e-commerce companies in emerging markets called Vserv Smart RT which enables e-commerce companies to re-target desktop users on mobile sites and apps, as well as mobile site users on third party apps- thereby improving sales.