Fresh off a $40 million raise, flash sales site for home décor, furnishings and accessories One Kings Lane, is bringing on a new CFO from eBay, Dinesh Lathi. In his new role, Lathi will lead finance, operations and customer service for the retail asite and will join the company’s management team.
Previously, Lathi was employed by eBay where he spent nearly seven years. He most recently served as vice president of managed marketplace and seller experience and was a member of the global marketplaces executive staff. While at eBay, Lathi and his team were responsible for a number of the core marketplace products including the Top Rated Seller Program, Buyer Protection, Fashion Vault, Daily Deal, Store Subscriptions and Zero Insertion Fees.
Lathi also served as CFO of RingCentral, a cloud-based enterprise phone systems provider; and was CFO of Industrial Container, a company that offers new and reconditioned steel, plastic and fiber drums. Lathi holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BS in Materials Science from MIT.
As the Wall Street Journal reported recently, One Kings Lane is on track for over $100 million in 2011 sales, and is valued at $440 million. Now that the company is making real revenue, a CFO to manage the financial side of the business is necessary.
One Kings Lane, which just hit 2 million users, is proving that a niche vertical in the flash sales arena can bring in meaningful revenue and a loyal customer base. The company has also been able to use entertainment and celebrity partnerships to boost traffic and sales. Over the summer, One Kings Lane featured a content deal with Bravo’s Million Dollar Decorators, and teamed up with actress Gwyneth Paltrow to promote her new cookbook.
Of course, Gilt is also trying to grab a piece of this market, recently debuting its new Gilt Home vertical.