Akshay Kothari appointed as LinkedIn India’s Country Manager

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LinkedIn, the professional online network, has appointed Akshay Kothari as India’s new Country Manager and Head of Product. Mr Kothari became a part of LinkedIn three years back when the company acquired Pulse, which he co-founded and was the CEO of till date.

Kothari will directly report to Olivier Legrand, Managing Director, LinkedIn, APAC and will be joining LinkedIn’s APAC senior management team as well as lead product initiatives in India.

Mr Legrand, says, “India continues to be a strategic market for LinkedIn. While we have come a long way over the past 6 years in the country, we still have a long runway of opportunities to deliver even more compelling experiences and value for our members and clients. Akshay’s successful track record as an entrepreneur, leader and product executive will be a boost to our efforts as he leads our team to the next stage of growth in India.”

Kothari, based out of LinkedIn’s headquarters in Mountain View, California, has led several products and content initiatives which includes making Pulse one of the fastest-growing consumer product on LinkedIn, and boosting the number of members publishing on LinkedIn from 1,000 to nearly two million in the last two years.

He says, “My journey with LinkedIn started when Pulse became part of the LinkedIn family almost three years ago. I’m excited to have this opportunity to work with our teams across India, from sales to product and engineering. This new role also brings me back ‘full-circle’ to India, a high-growth market where there are opportunities abound to create even more value for our members and clients. Ultimately, my dream is for LinkedIn to play an even more significant role in helping to transform professionals and businesses in India, and showcase their success to the rest of the world.”

India has the second largest base of LinkedIn members globally, after the USA. Over the past 6 years, the member base in India saw a ten-fold increase (which translates to a compound annual growth rate of 46%) to more than 33 million. In November 2015, LinkedIn launched LinkedIn Placement, its first ‘made in India, for India’ product, which makes easier for graduating students across India to find their first job and for placement officers and recruiters to manage campus placement initiatives.

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