Corporate Crossings | Reddit hires ex-Coinbase executive Durgesh Kaushik to lead expansion in emerging markets

Social news aggregation platform Reddit has announced the appointment of former Coinbase executive Durgesh Kaushik as vice president of Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Emerging Markets.

In this newly established role, Kaushik would be responsible for formulating the company's strategy to grow communities, scaling user adoption and identifying international expansion opportunities in emerging markets across the world, Reddit said on December 12.

He will be based out of Singapore and report to Vaibhav Sahgal, Vice President of Product Management at Reddit.

"Building out a meaningful global footprint is key to our internationalization strategy and requires local context and perspective as we further grow our user base in emerging markets throughout the world" Sahgal said in a statement. "Durgesh brings a clear vision for Reddit’s growth outside of the US, and a proven track record for successfully scaling user bases across APAC and other emerging markets"

Kaushik was previously leading the market expansion for Coinbase across APAC, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas in his eight-month stint.

Before Coinbase, he launched the India operations for Snapchat parent Snap Inc in April 2019 and set up the company's first office in the country.

He also led the firm's expansion, strategy and growth in the country and was responsible for formulating its playbook for international expansion.

In August 2021, Kaushik was elevated as the company's managing director for India and South Asia region. He left Snap Inc in May 2022.

"I believe Reddit is unique in its ability to connect people via real communities and quality conversations that are not happening anywhere else online" Kaushik said. “As our international user base continues to grow, I am excited to help build our presence in APAC and other emerging markets to optimise even more culturally relevant, local experiences for people around the world."

Founded in 2005, Reddit confidentially filed for an IPO with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in December 2021. It was last valued at $10 billion in a fundraising round led by Fidelity Management in August 2021.

The company raised a total financing of more than $1 billion from investors such as Fidelity Management, Advance Publications, Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.

Reddit claimed to have more than 50 million daily active users and over 100,000 active communities as of January 2021.