Lyft hires two new executives to take on Uber

In a bid to take on rival Uber, ride-hailing company, Lyft has announced the hiring of two new executives to its top management.

In an official statement, San Francisco-based Lyft announced that it has brought in Raj Kapoor as the chief strategy officer and Melissa Waters as VP of marketing to its executive team. Kapoor joins the company from VC firm Mayfield Fund, which led Lyft’s Series A round.

Melissa Waters, the former vice president of brand and product marketing at Pandora, will become head of marketing.

“I’m excited for Raj and Melissa to join our executive team as we drive forward our next chapter of growth and scale,” company president, John Zimmer said in a statement. “Raj brings exceptional experience and energy to our overall strategy, and Melissa will take our brand and marketing results to the next level.”

Notably, the two hirings come alongside two exits. One is the company’s chief marketing officer Kira Wampler, who is leaving to become the CEO of online art retailer Art.com. The other one bidding Good-bye is Vice President of Communications Brandon McCormick who is apparently taking “personal time,” according to the company.

Lyft said Sheila Bryson will be taking over as interim head of communications. “We thank both Kira and Brandon for their contributions to Lyft,” the company said in a statement.

In a statement to Recode, a Lyft spokesperson said that the hiring of top-level executives doesn’t have anything to do with these exits. The company hired Waters ‘a few weeks ago’ and she was slated to report to Wampler. They learned of Wampler’s decision to leave the company only last week, and thus, they’re handing over her responsibilities to Waters. She will report directly to company president John Zimmer.