Kueski appoints Chief Data Officer, expands Board of Advisors

By Edlyn Cardoza

Kueski, one of the largest buy now, pay later (BNPL) and online consumer lenders in Latin America, recently announced the appointment of Krishna Venkatraman as the company’s Chief Data Officer. In this capacity, Venkatraman will focus on amplifying the scope of Kueski’s data capabilities, from credit risk to other aspects like engagement, personalization, and retention.

Venkatraman sees expanding access to Kueski’s financial products as the number one priority in his new role, directing faster, more reliable credit-decisioning and risk models. Another equally important focus will be creating customer delight and developing products that feel intuitive to use without imposing additional tax burdens on the consumer. Lastly, he wants to transform Kueski into a learning machine and implement a data culture that enables the entire team to participate and effectively use data-based insights in their day-to-day work.

“With Kueski’s continued expansion of its market presence and product ecosystem in Mexico, I am looking forward to building an even more holistic data ecosystem that impacts and benefits every decision we make,” Chief Data Officer Krishna Venkatraman said. “As technology increasingly transcends boundaries and has the potential to address societal issues, I feel extremely privileged for the opportunity to make a difference in the financial lives of millions of people.”

Venkatraman brings over 25 years of data science experience to Kueski, 15 of which he served in various capacities within the FinTech industry. Most recently, Venkatraman served as the chief data science officer at Mission Lane, a FinTech company dedicated to providing Americans access to fair and transparent financial products. Prior to that, he was the chief data scientist at Brazilian neobank Nubank, where he developed and nurtured a high-performance data culture that directly contributed to the company’s growth. Venkatraman’s career includes leadership positions at IBM, Intuit, and HP.

“We are excited to welcome Krishna to the team and look forward to his contributions to make Kueski even more data-driven and customer-oriented,” said Adalberto Flores, founder and CEO of Kueski. “Through his work at Mission Lane and Nubank, it is evident that Krishna has a passion for making a difference in the future of the financial services industry. We see eye-to-eye on our vision for Kueski, and adding Krishna to our team will allow us to expand financial access to even more Mexican consumers.”

In addition to Venkatraman, Alex Schleifer has joined Kueski’s Board of Advisors. Schleifer was previously chief design officer at Airbnb and is now a venture partner at Rise Capital and the founder of game design studio Universal Entities. Drawing on his experience working on global digital consumer products, he will be advising on customer user experience and brand and marketing strategy.

“Kueski has been on an important mission to expand access to financial products in Mexico for nearly 10 years, and I am excited to be making a contribution to the way millions of consumers interact with its services on a daily basis,” Kueski’s Board of Advisors, Alex Schleifer said.

This announcement comes on the heels of Kueski’s $202 million Series C funding round, led by StepStone Group and Victory Park Capital, in December 2021. Kueski will leverage this funding to continue expanding its financial product ecosystem, including fueling the growth of its BNPL product, Kueski Pay.