Digital payments service provider Razorpay has elevated Rahul Kothari as its chief operating officer as it looks to double down on the Southeast Asia (SEA) region. Previously, Kothari was the chief business officer for the Bengaluru-based fintech startup.

In his new, expanded role, Kothari will work closely with company founder and chief executive Harshil Mathur to develop and implement strategies to improve its overall performance. These include aspects such as customer service, technology infrastructure and organisation quality assurance. With his elevation, Kothari will also look at Razorpay’s products across domestic and international markets. This is beyond the responsibility of just ensuring financial performance, sales and business development, which Kothari oversaw in his role as the company’s CBO.

“This appointment represents a pivotal moment in our journey. His (Kothari’s) deep expertise and relentless dedication will be the cornerstone of our mission to redefine the future of payments and financial technology on a global scale,” said Mathur in a statement.

Kothari will also be responsible for implementing strategies to ensure revenue outcomes from the SEA region.

Kothari’s elevation also comes as Razorpay procured the necessary licence, last month, to directly onboard new merchants on its platform in Malaysia for its payment gateway vertical. It launched its first international payment gateway (PG) service earlier in July this year with subsidiary Curlec in Malaysia to help local businesses in the geography accept digital payments.

Razorpay, backed by the likes of Y Combinator, GIC, Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital India (now Peak XV) has raised a total of $741.5 million and was last valued at $7.5 billion in December 2021.