Anil Malhotra, the Chief Marketing Officer at subscription-focused tech firm Bango, will step down from the role and from the company’s Board of Directors at the end of the month, The Desk has learned.
The changes will occur after the annual general meeting of Bango’s Board of Directors, according to a notification filed with British securities regulators earlier this month.
Malhotra co-founded Bango in 1999 and served as its Vice President of Marketing and Alliances for several years. In 2014, he was elevated to the role of Chief Marketing Officer, where he was responsible for all aspects of the company’s marketing efforts.
Since then, Bango has evolved into a powerhouse developer of technology that allows subscription-based services to effectuate consumer deals and novel bundles with each other. Verizon was one of the first telecommunications partners to utilize new technology called the Digital Vending Machine, which allowed it to offer third-party subscriptions and bundles to services like Netflix, AMC Plus, Disney Plus and Apple Music. The subscriptions are charged to the same bill as Verizon’s wireless and home Internet services, with Bango taking charge of the technical haul to make connections and subscriptions possible.
Other companies like Optus, T-Mobile, Comcast and Optimum have used the Digital Vending Machine to offer similar subscriptions to their customers, though some Bango clients do not advertise their use of the Digital Vending Machine, and some use a white-label version of the product that launched a few months ago.
The Digital Vending Machine will be central to Malhotra’s new role at Bango when he steps down as CMO at the end of the month. According to Bango’s note to regulators, Malholtra’s new role will serve new and existing Bango clients who want to integrate their artificial intelligence-focused strategies into the Digital Vending Machine platform, which will create “significant extra value for their customers,” the company said.
Malholtra’s new title has not been revealed.
“Bango has been a remarkable journey that started when Ray (Anderson) and I founded the business in 1999,” Malholtra said in a statement. “My focus moving forward is to enable Bango, our customers and partners to unlock tremendous value through AI from the DVM platform’s unique position at the center of the global subscription ecosystem.”
In addition to Malhotra’s title change, Bango said Frank Bury will not seek re-election to the Board of Directors at Bango’s annual general meeting. No reason was given for Bury’s departure; in addition to his non-executive role at Bango, Bury holds a similar position with Domainex, a pharmaceutical and biotechnology research firm in Europe.
“On behalf of the Board I would like to thank Anil and Frank for their outstanding commitment and invaluable contributions to the Board. Frank brought extensive financial industry experience and has provided excellent guidance and counsel to Bango,” Ray Anderson, the Executive Chair and co-Founder of Bango, said in a statement. “Anil’s passion and skill in communicating the Bango vision won us support from the world’s biggest internet companies and has enabled Bango to create a unique market presence with the Digital Vending Machine. His background in AI positions us well to help Telcos use AI to extract value from the data that only the DVM can collect.”
