The news was announced by an email sent out by WhatsApp on Wednesday. Choletti had been with the company since 2016 and had worked in various roles since then, including as an executive at Facebook. CEO Vinay Choletti was the one who was supposed to spearhead the WhatsApp-based payment system for India, which was announced in December last year.
Choletti announced his departure from WhatsApp Pay on Twitter today, saying that he’s looking for new opportunities. He said, “It has been an amazing journey with @WhatsAppPay, I’ve met so many amazing people and learned so much,” he wrote. “Now I’m looking forward to new challenges.”
Choletti’s departure comes after WhatsApp Pay announced it would be exiting the Indian market. The company said in a statement: “We have decided to exit the Indian market. We will continue to work with our partners to ensure a smooth transition.”
It’s unclear what led to Choletti’s departure, but he was quoted in an email as saying “I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved in India and want to thank everyone who made this possible,” according to The Economic Times.
WhatsApp Pay has made waves in the Indian market with its new service that allows users to send money directly from their phones. The platform has been growing rapidly, but the company’s head of operations has resigned.
On Tuesday, WhatsApp announced that it had secured $100 million from Sequoia Capital. The round was led by the company’s existing investors, including Tencent Holdings Ltd., which invested $1 billion in January 2018.
The company also said it had raised an additional $40 million through debt financing and would use the money to expand its operations. WhatsApp Pay is currently available in India, Indonesia, and Taiwan, with plans to expand into more countries in Asia and Europe in the future.
Choletti was appointed to the position in July 2018. He previously worked as a director of operations at PayPal India and had been a vice president of operations at Alipay. WhatsApp Pay is an online payment solution that allows users to send money using their phone numbers. It was first introduced in India in March 2016 and has since expanded to other countries around the world.
A WhatsApp Pay official has quit the company, with reports suggesting that it was due to differences with the parent company. According to a report in The Economic Times, Vinay Choletti, who was the head of WhatsApp Pay for India, has resigned from his position. He reportedly quit on July 31 and is now working as a consultant at Accel Partners. Choletti joined WhatsApp in 2011 and has been involved in various digital initiatives at both Facebook and WhatsApp companies over the years. He is a serial tech entrepreneur who has founded several startups including Flipkart, Yatra, and Ola Cabs.
Vinay Choletti, the current head of WhatsApp Pay India, has announced that he will be leaving the company at the end of this month. This is not the first time that someone who was in charge of the payment service has left WhatsApp, but it seems to be a trend that is continuing.
Choletti had been with WhatsApp for 2 years and had worked on developing the product before being promoted to head up the team. He told employees in an email that he had decided to leave his role because he wanted a change: “I have always wanted to work on something new.”
