Former Google Executive Aparna Chennapragada Named Robinhood’s First Chief Product Officer
- The tech industry veteran will oversee all product design and research at the trading start-up.
Former Google Executive Aparna Chennapragada is named Robinhood’s first Chief Product Officer. In her new role, Chennapragada will oversee all product, design and research, the trading start-up said in a blog post. Her appointment comes days before Robinhood’s IPO offering.
Chennapragada is a tech industry veteran with over 20 years of experience in product development, design and strategy. “Her leadership will help us continue to build products that make finance more accessible and meet the needs of a new generation of investors,” the blog post said.
A financial services company and creator of the popular stock-trading app of the same name, made headlines in January, after it restricted the trading of a couple of stocks following an effort by users of a chat group to drive up their price.
The company was co-founded by Baiju Bhatt and CEO Vladimir Tenev in 2013. The two met in Stanford as classmates and roommates. However, last November, the company announced that Tenev will be the company’s sole chief executive, ending an arrangement the two shared since the company’s launch.
“When I met Aparna, I was immediately struck by her passion for our product and delivering exceptional value to our customers,” Tenev said in the blog post. “The vision for what Robinhood could do for the world became even clearer. I look forward to learning from Aparna as we build delightful product experiences and work towards democratizing finance for all.”
Chennapragada shared a photo with Tenev on Twitter. “Excited to join @Robinhoodapp and work together with @VladTenev,” she wrote.
Excited to join @Robinhoodapp and work together with @VladTenev, @gengster1, @smedleyus, @bprafulkumar, Jason Warnick, @DanGallagherDC, @justmadhu, @richbessel, @surbs and the whole team. 💪💪💚💚 https://t.co/DaHr1qMFbW https://t.co/fdVPQIbl5f pic.twitter.com/kQgyciLzmG
— Aparna Chennapragada (@aparnacd) March 17, 2021
“Robinhood has built a uniquely accessible product that has opened up the financial markets to millions of people,” said Chennapragada in the blog post. “I spent my career at Google building products that help billions of people in their everyday lives. So I couldn’t be more excited to join Robinhood and help more people build their financial future and personal wealth.”
Chennapragada joins Robinhood after 12 years of leadership at Google, where she led product, engineering and design teams, across Google Search, Shopping and AR. She was most recently vice president for Consumer Shopping, and the lead for AR and visual search products. Prior to this, she was the technical assistant to the CEO, where she shaped the company’s product strategy and was a trusted advisor to Google’s leadership on company-wide initiatives. Throughout her tenure at Google, she led multiple product efforts in Google Assistant, Search and YouTube. She is also on the board of Capital One.
Chennapragada received her B.Tech in Computer Science from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras; a Master’s in Computer Science from University of Texas, Austin; and another Master’s in Management and Engineering from MIT, as per her LinkedIn profile.