Indian-origin executive Maju Kuruvilla has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of San Francisco-based fintech startup Bolt. The company’s founder Ryan Breslow is taking up the new role of executive chairman.
Maju Kuruvilla had joined the startup as its chief technology officer in January 2021 after working for e-commerce giant Amazon for nearly eight years. In August, he was promoted to the position of chief operating officer.
Kuruvilla has studied computer engineering from Mangalore University in Karnataka. He received a Masters of Business Administration degree from the University of Washington.
Announcing Kuruvilla’s appointment as CEO on February 1, Ryan Breslow said his talents included building world-class teams and “executing relentlessly and scaling globally”.
Breslow described Kuruvilla as someone who is revered at Bolt. “With already a majority of the company reporting into him, I asked myself the question: Why not 100% of the company?” the Bolt founder tweeted.
Breslow said Kuruvilla had completely changed the trajectory of Bolt in his previous roles. “Now as CEO, we can’t wait to see him unleashed,” Breslow added. “It’s going to be an epic ride.”
The Bolt founder said that as executive chairman, his will focus on more deals, acquisitions, fundraising and work culture.
“Some news sources say I resigned,” Breslow added. “I am not going anywhere. We are not stopping until Bolt completely and definitively democratizes all of commerce.”
Meanwhile, Kuruvilla thanked Breslow for his role. “Thank you for trusting me and giving me an opportunity to be part of the amazing Bolt story,” he said. “So excited about the future. Let's decentralize commerce.”
At present, Bolt is raising funds which are expected to take its value up to $14 billion, according to TechCrunch.
Earlier in January, Bolt had permanently switched to a four-day work week, a decision that it said it will never go back on. The online checkout platform allowed all staff to reduce their working week for good after doing a test-run for three months.
“Our three-month experiment proved every core thesis: Heightened productivity, engagement, wellness,” Breslow had said.
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