The first Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of upGrad, one of the biggest integrated learning, skilling, and workforce development majors in Asia, is Venkatesh Tarakkad. At DealShare, Venkatesh oversaw finance, inventory, and strategic initiatives. As of March 1, 2024, he takes on the same responsibilities at upGrad.
In addition to a wider range of areas including investor relations, business finance, corporate finance, enterprise/accounting controllership, financial planning and analysis, risk management, tax, and treasury functions, he will be in charge of managing upGrad’s domestic and international financial strategies.
In the past, he handled acquisitions, lead funding rounds, helped businesses grow and scale their financial operations, built compliance and governance frameworks, automated processes, including ERP systems, and took a firm public. After beginning his career with Ernst & Young in the early 1990s, he has held multiple leadership positions across other significant brands, including Ecom Express, TCNS Clothing, Siam Makro Thailand, Metro Cash & Carry, and Coca-Cola India.
Venkatesh is a seasoned enterprise leader, and his employment represents a strategic leap forward in our growth trajectory, both in India and globally, according to Mayank Kumar, Co-Founder & MD of upGrad, who commented on his appointment. As we work toward achieving global leadership, his operational expertise will guarantee a strong credit profile, end-to-end compliance, and transparent corporate and financial control within the upGrad ecosystem. Thus far, we have established a rock-solid company foundation and developed and scaled our offerings. Venkatesh will work out of upGrad’s Mumbai headquarters.
With this significant hiring, Rohit Agarwal, who is now in charge of finance operations, will continue to play a vital role in upGrad’s ecosystem and will take on additional worldwide duties to lead operations in every location outside of India.
The largest integrated learning, skilling, and workforce development company in Asia was founded in 2015. Its name is upGrad. Under its B2C portfolio, upGrad provides a variety of online and hybrid skill-building programs, certifications, and bootcamps. It also makes it easier for prestigious Indian and international universities to give executive doctorates, master’s degrees, and diplomas. Under the B2B model, several programs are also customized for corporate clients in addition to traditional staffing and recruitment services.
