Ola poaches Flipkart top exec Joy Bandekar to head new initiatives

App-based taxi aggregator Ola has poached Flipkart executive Joy Bandekar to join its core leadership team as corporate President to head its new initiatives arm.

Bandekar, who comes with over ten years of experience in the e-commerce industries of India and South East Asia, served as corporate President at Flipkart in his most recent stint.

“We are excited to welcome Joy to lead New Initiatives at Ola. His rich experience from a variety of businesses will be invaluable to us as we continue to grow the on demand mobility ecosystem in India,” said Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO of Ola, in a statement.

Prior to Flipkart, Bandekar worked global e-commerce marketplace, eBay Inc. He also had stints with firms such as Reliance Industries, Maxworth Orchards and Atcom Technologies.

The appointment of Bandekar comes at a time when Ola is engaged in a heated battle with global rival Uber. The company recently announced its strategic partnership with China’s Didi Kuaidi, US-based Lyft and Southeast Asian GrabTaxi, to help mount a global assault to curb Uber’s growth.

Apart from this, the company is also looking at diversifying into different verticals such as on-demand hyperlocal grocery delivery, payments and other such ventures that are part of its new initiatives program. Ola has also made it easier for third-party apps and services to integrate with it by making its API publicly available.