Social messaging platform WhatsApp has appointed Abhijit Bose as its India head, with effect from early 2019.

Bose will be responsible for building WhatsApp’s first full country-team outside of its headquarters in California. He and his team in India will focus on helping businesses connect with their customers. Earlier this year, WhatsApp released the WhatsApp Business app for small business owners and the WhatsApp Business API to serve larger businesses that engage with customers at scale.

Bose joins WhatsApp from Ezetap, an electronics payment company, which he co-founded in 2011.

The move comes after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) pressed the company to have a corporate presence in India and also a grievance officer.