Venkatesh Tarakkad named as upGrad's first Chief Financial Officer

New Delhi, March 1 (IANS) Ronnie Screwvala-founded upGrad on Friday said that the edtech unicorn has appointed Venkatesh Tarakkad as the first Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Tarakkad led finance, inventory, and strategic initiatives at DealShare and assumed his role at upGrad effective March 1.

He will be based out of upGrad's headquarters in Mumbai.

"We’ve laid a rock-solid business foundation so far, built and scaled our offerings, and as we strive for global leadership, his operational excellence will ensure a robust credit profile, end-to-end compliance, and transparent corporate and financial governance within the upGrad ecosystem," Mayank Kumar, Co-founder & MD of upGrad said in a statement.

Tarakkad will be responsible for overseeing upGrad’s domestic and global financial strategies, encompassing a broader spectrum of areas such as investor relations, business finance, corporate finance, enterprise and accounting controllership, financial planning and analysis, risk management, tax, and treasury functions, the company said.

Previously, he helped companies build and scale their financial operations, established compliance and governance frameworks, automated processes, including enterprise resource planning implementations, managed acquisitions, led funding rounds and took a company public.

Tarakkad has held numerous leadership positions across other notable brands like Ecom Express, TCNS Clothing, Siam Makro Thailand, Metro Cash & Carry and Coca-Cola India after starting his career with Ernst & Young in the early 90s.