Mumbai: Merchant commerce platform Pine Labs on Wednesday announced the appointment of Phanimohan Kalagara as its new CTO.

Kalagara is an MS in computer science from Utah State University and has over two decades of experience working with companies in the United States and India. He has extensive experience in the field of technology having worked in e-commerce, financial technology, and the CAD/CAM industries. He also brings expertise in emerging technologies like virtual reality.

“We have made several new appointments in the past one year to bolster our technology capabilities. I am delighted to welcome Phanimohan as the new CTO," stated Pine Labs CEO B Amrish Rau. "Phani comes with a wealth of experience in product and engineering and is the right man to lead our technology team during this exciting phase of growth for the company. I would also like to acknowledge the role of his predecessor Sanjeev Kumar who will now move into a new role within the company and head the R&D vertical.”

Prior to joining Pine Labs, Kalagara was with e-commerce company Flipkart where he was the SVP of product and engineering. He has also spent 12 years with global fintech company PayPal where he was leading product and engineering and spent nearly eight years in the United States working on several key assignments for the company.

“It is not often that we get an opportunity to play a key role in a company that gets to shift the industry landscape. I have been blessed a couple of times earlier in my career to make a meaningful difference in such companies," said Kalagara. "With Pine Labs, I see a massive opportunity to make a substantial difference to the future of merchant commerce in Asia. Looking forward to being part of this team that is set to shift the fintech landscape in Asia."