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Walmart to focus on small startup acquihires in India
MUMBAI: Walmart is looking for tech acquisitions in India. The retailer, which agreed to acquire home-grown e-commerce platform Flipkart in May, is now looking for tech acquisition to strengthen its technology unit Walmart Labs.
Unlike other overseas internet companies such as Amazon and Google, the Arkansas-based company will eye acqui-hire/acquisitions involving small amounts. Acqui-hiring refers to the practice of buying a company in a cut-price deal primarily for the purpose of ‘hiring’ the company’s founders and key employees.
“We got close to doing a couple of (acquisitions)… nothing that was a perfect fit. There were a couple that would have been interesting additions to our competitive intelligence platform. I’m looking at (acquisition candidates) in merchandising, machine learning right now,” said Walmart chief technology officer Jeremy King as quoted by publication Mint.
King also said that Walmart Labs will hire 2,000 engineers across the world, including India. Last year, Walmart Labs hired Hari Vasudev from Flipkart to head its Bengaluru office. Vasudev is also now acting head of data science for Walmart globally. Walmart Labs will hire more senior tech talent in Bengaluru.
“The initial team in Bengaluru was only 30 people and now we have several hundreds. We’re hiring machine learning experts, anyone who’s got merchandising and supply chain experience, data science and cloud experts… just high-quality engineers. We also have some product openings,” the report quoted him as stating.
Having set up its centre in Bengaluru, Walmart completes the acquisition of Flipkart, which is expected to be wrapped up this quarter; Walmart Labs will work closely with the tech team of the Indian online retailer. Other American retail and tech firms such as Amazon, Uber, Target and others have tech centres in Bengaluru as hiring engineers here is far cheaper than in the US.
The acquisitions will, however, be of a much smaller size in comparison to the investment of $16 billion to buy 77 per cent stake in Flipkart.
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Pocket FM elevates Lalit Gangwar to COO to drive global growth
Founding member to lead operations, monetisation and expansion across markets
MUMBAI: Pocket FM has elevated Lalit Gangwar to chief operating officer, tasking the founding team member with leading global business operations as the company sharpens its international growth strategy.
In his new role, Gangwar will oversee end-to-end operations across markets, including growth, monetisation and execution for the company’s audio business. The appointment comes as Pocket FM looks to strengthen its operating foundation and build a more predictable, scalable global business.
Gangwar has been closely involved in shaping the company’s trajectory from its early days. He played a key role in building the growth and marketing playbook in India, helping the platform scale to over 150 million users within its first year and establish a strong foothold in the audio storytelling category.
He later led Pocket FM’s expansion into the United States, where he set up teams, defined market strategy and drove scale, contributing significantly to the company’s international ambitions.
Pocket FM co-founder and CEO Rohan Nayak said, “Lalit has been central to Pocket FM’s journey from the very beginning. He has built our growth engine and scaled our business across markets.” He added that the company’s focus on nurturing internal talent makes Gangwar a natural choice to lead the next phase.
Gangwar said, “Pocket FM has always been driven by a simple belief that powerful stories can travel across borders and create meaningful impact.” He noted that the company will continue to focus on scaling markets, investing in AI-led storytelling and strengthening monetisation.
As COO, Gangwar is expected to bring greater operating discipline while building systems, talent and processes to support long-term growth.
With leadership continuity and a clear global focus, Pocket FM appears to be turning the page to its next chapter, one that aims to take its storytelling playbook well beyond home turf.
