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Maju Kuruvilla is no longer the CEO of the one-click payment company Bolt. It is replaced by Justin Grooms, Boltt’s global head of sales, who now serves as interim CEO, According to Grooms’ LinkedIn profile.
Kuruvilla He didn’t have much to say about the change but he confirmed it all the same LinkedIn And X“By publishing, simply”One click out @bolt! Onward” with a rocket emoji. (He declined to comment further.) Arjun Sethi, co-founder of the investment firm The capital of the tribecommented on his LinkedIn post, noting that it was “great to work with” the CEO.
Bolt’s board of directors voted to fire him this weekend. the information mentioned.
Kuruvilla, a former Amazon executive, has taken over as CEO at January 2022 after founder Ryan Breslow steps down.
Grooms joined Boltt five years ago after serving in executive positions at companies, including… Ultraleap (formerly Leap Motion), Its LinkedIn says Datron World Communications and Qualcomm. The company told The Information that the CEO’s role had changed and said Kuruvilla’s departure was “amicable” but did not provide further details.
Bolt is no stranger to controversy. Its founder, then 27 years old, Breslowstarted the company after dropping out of Stanford University and was generally known for his extremely loud statements.
in Interview with Connie Loizos from TechCrunch In the month he resigned, he said the company had signed nearly 10 major deals in the second half of 2021, each larger “than any deals Boltt has previously signed in the company’s history.”
But then the company faced some difficulties. Bolt It was at one time the subject of a Federal investigation Involving Breslow regarding Whether the company violated any securities laws while fundraising in 2021. That’s when Bolt was seeking compensation $355 million Series E round Which values the company at $11 billion. Company It raised about $1 billion In total financing supported by the project.
There have also been several rounds of layoffs, including one in May 2022 When at least 185 employees, or one-third of its workforce, were reported to have been laid off. Then another in Early 2023 And one In December 2023 Which affected 29% of its employees.
In October, then-CEO Kuruvilla told TechCrunch that the SEC was no longer looking into Boltt and that He was working to achieve profitability It had some new features in the pipeline, such as improving merchandise returns and providing personalized experiences around its global network of shoppers. The company announced partnerships with retailers, including Saks OFF 5TH, Shinola, Filson, Lafayette 148 and Toys “R” Us, in November.
Recently, Bolt signed A.J Dealing with checkout Bolt becomes Checkout.com’s “exclusive one-click payment provider” and Checkout.com becomes Bolt’s “preferred payment partner.”
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