BlueStone hires former Zynga, Goldman Sachs execs to beef up technology, product teams

Online jewellery retailer BlueStone.com has appointed former Zynga executive Ravi Krishna as senior vice president of product and former Goldman Sachs executive Samarth Bhargava as vice president of technology.

The new appointments will help BlueStone.com strengthen its technology infrastructure, the company said in a statement.

"Our technology and product functions are at the core of our business and strengthening them with exceptional talent will ensure robust growth while offering a truly personalized experience for customers," said Gaurav Singh Kushwaha, founder and CEO of BlueStone.com.

Prior to joining BlueStone, Krishna was senior vice president of strategic products at Helpchat, a chat-based personal assistant app. The startup had halted its chat services in May this year. He worked at Zynga in the product team from 2012 to 2015, and at MakeMyTrip from 2010 to 2012. Krishna is a computer science graduate from IIT Delhi and has an MBA from the Indian School of Business.

"In the past, I have worked on developing several products, both in India and USA. My latest project was building an AI-based personal assistant which anticipated user needs and fulfilled them automatically," said Krishna.

Bhargava was previously associated with Goldman Sachs' AppBank Engineering division, building systems for streaming big data and predictive analytics. He has also worked with GE and Dell and with Dow Jones and LexisNexis as a consulting architect in the US. He obtained his BE from National Institute of Technology, Rourkela.

These hires come close on the heels of BlueStone's Series D funding round where the firm raised $30 million from Accel Partners, Kalaari Capital, IIFL and others. According to VCCEdge, the data research platform of VCCircle, the deal valued BlueStone around $89 million. The firm also counts Ratan Tata as one of its investors.

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