Saavn appoints ex-Google exec Mahesh Narayanan as COO

Saavn (South Asian Audio Video Network), a US-based Indian digital music service, has appointed former Google executive Mahesh Narayanan as COO. Based out of Mumbai, Narayanan will oversee numerous functions of the company to encourage growth and support expansion.

"Narayanan brings a bright, uniquely experienced perspective to Saavn. He'll bring us into the next chapter of growth and revenue," Rishi Malhotra, co-founder and CEO of Saavn, said.

Narayanan has an experience of over a decade in digital companies. Most recently he led the India operations for German display advertising company, Sociomantic, which was acquired by Dunnhumby in April 2014.

Prior to Sociomantic, Narayanan was the founding member of Google's Direct Sales Operations in 2005, before joining the leadership team of mobile advertising network, AdMob.

Following Google's acquisition of AdMob in 2010, Narayanan returned to Google as Mobile Head for India. He has worked at Times Television Network, Mediaturf Worldwide, Baazee.com and Rediff.com.

Saavn claims of having more than 11 million monthly streaming users, with more than 30 million unique users in 2014 alone. It further claims of approaching 200 million streams per month.

Last year, Saavn added Twitter-powered radio station to its service. It also entered into licensing agreements with Warner Music and EMI Music that helped it add 800,000 tracks from international artists. This took Saavn's total number of tracks to two million and the service now covers all major labels in the US, including Sony and Universal.

Previously, Saavn had inked an exclusive partnership with London-headquartered Shazam Entertainment Ltd, a global media engagement company offering music/media apps and enabling users to discover, explore, buy and share music, TV shows and more.