Listen to the article
Dive Brief:
Poshmark CEO Manish Chandra, who co-founded the fashion resale marketplace in 2011, is exiting as chief executive and will hold a strategic role on the board of directors, the company announced Monday.
Poshmark named Namsun Kim, currently the executive chairman of its board, as its new CEO as of Oct. 1.
Kim currently serves as the president of investments at Naver, Poshmark’s parent company. He previously served as Naver’s chief financial officer.
Dive Insight:
Over two years after Naver acquired Poshmark in a $1.2 billion deal, Naver has placed one of its own leaders at the helm of the online marketplace.
Kim currently manages Naver’s global strategic and venture capital investments, and became Poshmark’s executive chairman in April to support its growth trajectory. The company credited Kim with helping the company “strengthen Poshmark’s operational efficiency and achieve business goals.”
“I’m immensely proud of what we’ve accomplished together — the innovations we’ve introduced, the relationships we’ve built, and the impact we’ve made,” Chandra said in a statement. “Since our partnership began almost four years ago, Namsun has had unwavering confidence in Poshmark’s ability to achieve our ambitious goals and deliver enduring value to all stakeholders, and I have full confidence in his ability to lead Poshmark in this next chapter.”
In the years following the Naver-Poshmark deal, the resale marketplace has invested in new tech features to support its sellers. In April 2023, Poshmark debuted its Posh Shows feature, enabling sellers to showcase their merchandise on livestreams.
Poshmark has also deployed generative AI to help sellers craft product listings. With the Smart List AI tool, sellers can upload photos of their merchandise and edit an AI-generated description instead of writing their own. Similarly, e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Depop have launched generative AI-powered product listing tools.
Poshmark has also experimented with artificial intelligence tools for its customers. Months after releasing the Posh Shows feature, Poshmark introduced the Posh Lens tool, which allows shoppers to search for items using photos. The tool uses AI and visual search technology from Naver.