Viacom18 ropes in Gourav Rakshit to head its video streaming service Voot

Viacom18 has appointed Gourav Rakshit as COO – Viacom18 Digital Ventures.

He will be taking over from Gaurav Gandhi who had quit the company in March last year, to join Amazon as the country manager for Amazon Prime Video. Rakshit will be reporting to Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO & MD, Viacom18.

“Our digital foray has grown exponentially since its inception 3 years back, with the sharply segmented businesses – the ad led model, the international business and the soon-to-be-launched subscription based VOOT Kids service”, said Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO & MD, Viacom18.

Prior to this, Rakshit was serving as the president and CEO of People Group that currently owns and operates Shaadi.com. He was with the company for 11 years across multiple roles and played a key role in building the company's consumer subscription play. He has over two decades of experience in Consumer Technology, IT and FMCG sectors with stints at Nestle, Planetasia and Infosys Consulting.

Last month, Voot had claimed to have crossed 50 million monthly active users milestone and was eyeing to double this base to 100 million users by the end of this fiscal. To this end, the service had announced a lineup of more than 30 original shows across various genres and languages.

Voot had also unveiled a branded content tech solution called Voot Studios, that will enable advertisers to engage consumers with branded shows, sponsorships, and interactive formats apart from other bespoke solutions.