Snapdeal appoints Adobe hand, Viraj Chatterjee

As vice president, engineering, Chatterjee will lead the technology development solutions to enrich the overall seller experience on the platform.

Snapdeal has appointed Viraj Chatterjee as vice president, engineering. In his new role, Chatterjee will lead the technology development solutions to enrich the overall seller experience on the platform.

Prior to his appointment at Snapdeal, Chatterjee spent 16 years at Adobe Systems, where he most recently served as director, engineering. He was leading the Acrobat and Flash Runtime line of products. His stint with Adobe was focussed on product management, engineering and building powerful products across desktop and mobile, which included the Adobe Reader and Acrobat.

Chatterjee is a graduate in computer science from Delhi University, and he also holds a Masters degree in the stream from Pune University.

Recently, the company launched Snapdeal Plus and Capital Assist, to further enhance the ability of small and medium businesses to sell on its platform. Chatterjee will play a pivotal role in strengthening the overall seller platform, and introducing newer products backed by strong technology solutions.

Rohit Bansal, co-founder, Snapdeal, says, "Our vision is to build the most impactful digital commerce ecosystem in the country that creates life-changing experiences for our buyers and sellers. With our entire ecosystem resting on technology, a robust infrastructure and team are critical to our success. Our goal is to create one million successful online entrepreneurs within the next three years and our seller interface will play a key role in enabling this. It is crucial to equip sellers with the necessary infrastructure, and Viraj, with his rich experience and deep understanding of consumer-facing tech products, will provide the right impetus to building the best products for our sellers. We are delighted to have him on board and wish him a great journey ahead with the Snapdeal family."

Speaking about his appointment, Chatterjee says, adds, "India's growing internet economy presents immense opportunities for growth of small and medium businesses, and I am particularly excited about the company's vision of creating one million successful online entrepreneurs within the next three years. My main focus would be on strengthening the technology interface and building products that will enable our sellers to bring scale and efficiency in their business across the mobile and web platform."

Snapdeal has recently ramped up its technology leadership team and has hired senior leaders from across the globe. Anand Chandrasekaran, ex-CPO of Bharti Airtel, Gaurav Gupta, formerly the India head of Scalearc - a Bay area startup, Bhuvan Gupta, ex-CTO, BSB Portal (JV between BSB and Yahoo Japan) and recently Amitava Ghosh, ex-CTO of Taxi For Sure, have joined the company as core members of the technology team.

Launched in February 2010, by Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, the platform currently has 11 million products across 500 diverse categories from regional, national and international brands and retailers. The online marketplace will invest $150-200 million in the next one year, expanding its delivery operations. It has picked up a minority stake in logistics firm GoJavas, a former logistics arm of smaller rival Jabong.

Snapdeal has partnered with several global marquee investors and individuals such as SoftBank, BlackRock, Temasek, eBay Inc., Premji Invest, Intel Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners and Ratan Tata, among others.