Ola’s former revenue head joins upGrad to scale up higher-ed programmes

Start-up veteran Anuj Vishwakarma, who’s had stints with Ola, Paytm, and Myntra in the past, has been appointed as the President of online higher-ed programmes at upGrad. In his new role, Vishwakarma will be responsible for scaling the online higher-education vertical and implementing growth best practices at the Ronnie Screwvala-led edtech unicorn.

Until August 2022, IIM-B alumnus Vishwakarma was serving as the Head of Revenue & Growth at Ola. Prior to that, he was the Vice President of Paytm Mall, and Associate Vice President - Travel Business, at Paytm. He also held leadership positions at Myntra and Reliance Retail. “Anuj is a seasoned growth leader with over 10 years of rich experience building high-growth consumer businesses in the fintech, online retail, and offline retail sectors,” upGrad said in a statement. 

Commenting on the appointment, Mayank Kumar, Co-Founder and MD of upGrad, said, "We operate in a golden era where the demand for online higher education will continue to propel and therefore, we need a solution-focused leader who comes with strong hands-on skills. Anuj, for his domain inclination, is best suited to perform in-depth market research and consumer insights to spearhead our vertical growth.”

Earlier in November, upGrad announced an investment of $30 million for offline expansion. The edtech start-up plans to open 10 data science-focused offline institutes in the US, Singapore, Middle East, and India in 2023, and recruit 1,000 PhDs for its specialized programmes. Prior to that, in August, the company had raised $210 million from marquee investors, including ETS Global, Bodhi Tree Systems, Kaizen Management Advisors, and others. 

"I am humbled to be a part of this dynamic leadership team who knows no limits. upGrad’s vision is synergistic and I look forward to utilizing my domain expertise for building a stronger business foundation for driving career outcomes of our potential learners,” Vishwakarma, who will be based out of Bengaluru, said in a statement.

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