Myntra names Raghu Krishnananda as its new chief technology officer

Fashion etailer Myntra has announced a new appointment in its leadership team. Raghu Krishnananda has been named as its new chief technology officer (CTO). He was last working as the head of service platforms at Samsung Research Institute in Bengaluru.

With over two decades of experience as a tech expert, Krishnananda has led R&D teams in the US and India in companies such as Yahoo, Goldman Sachs and Citibank. He is an MBA from Stern School of Business, New York University.

“Technology is the backbone of Myntra and plays an important role in shaping our proposition,” said Amar Nagaram, head of Myntra. “Our company’s larger emphasis is on consumer engagement through content, with technology as the enabler. His experience in the domain will help us lead the industry,” he added.

Flipkart and Myntra together control about 70% of the online fashion market share in the country. According to Myntra’s new CTO Raghu Krishnananda, fashion ecommerce penetration is expected to reach 15% of the total fashion spend in the country in 2020.

“Technology has and will continue to enable innovative and engaging experiences to consumers, especially in the online fashion sector,” he added.

For the last one year, there was no designated CTO at Flipkart-owned Myntra. In January 2019, its former CEO Jeyandran Venugopal was moved to Flipkart where he was later made the chief product and technology officer. Nagaram was since singlehandedly managing both the roles of the CTO and the head for the fashion marketplace.

Myntra sells over 3000 fashion and lifestyle brands such as Nike, Wrangler, Arrow, Diesel, Harley Davidson and Biba on its marketplace. About two-thirds of its revenue comes from apparel, its single biggest category, followed by footwear, accessories and recent addition in kids and personal care. The fashion-tech platform services about 23,000 pin codes in the country.