Dive Brief:
- VenHub has hired Tarang Sethia as executive vice president of product and technology, the automated convenience retail company announced on Monday.
- Sethia is known around the industry for having led c-store technology at 7-Eleven and, most recently, BP. He’ll now spearhead VenHub’s product vision, platform and operating model by building tech systems that are scalable, support growth and improve the company’s unit economics, according to the announcement.
- VenHub has grabbed industry headlines this month for its ambitious growth plans, highlighted by the company’s recent IPO and intentions to expand its autonomous c-store business.
Dive Insight:
VenHub entered the c-store industry three years ago when it announced plans to launch its fully autonomous, unattended convenience stores where customers order through its mobile app and AI-powered robots do the shopping. Now on the Nasdaq exchange, the company — which currently has two locations — is looking to expand both its number of c-stores and the types of technology it uses.
Sethia is the second c-store technology expert VenHub has hired this month. It also brought on Ian Rasmussen, who helped expand Amazon’s Just Walk Out retail technology, as EVP of global expansion and partnerships.
It’s not clear if VenHub founder and CEO Shahan Ohanessian has any c-store industry experience, but Sethia’s and Rasmussen’s hirings show the company is willing to bring on well-known industry leaders to help grow its business and industry reputation.
Sethia reports directly to Ohanessian, according to Monday’s announcement.
“Tarang brings to VenHub significant expertise and skill sets in leading product development teams that have helped transform global legacy retail operations into complex technology-driven enterprises,” Ohanessian said in the announcement. “His leadership of our technology development will help drive continuous innovation for our Smart Stores and further enhance the value we provide to operators and consumers.”
Sethia joins VenHub from BP, where he spent four years as chief product officer and general manager of digital products for the company’s mobility and convenience segment in the Americas, according to his LinkedIn bio. According to Monday’s announcement, Sethia helped build BP’s retail operating system-as-a-service, including its Earnify rewards ecosystem.
Sethia also spent over four years with 7-Eleven, notably as chief digital officer, where he helped scale the 7Rewards platform, as well as the retailer’s proprietary payments and POS platforms. He was also a key player in advancing research and development initiatives and computer-vision-enabled retail formats, according to Monday’s announcement.
“From my first interaction with a VenHub Smart Store, I instantly recognized the elegance and power the solution offers to usher in a new era of autonomous retail that benefits consumers and retail operators,” Sethia said in the announcement.
