Pinterest Hires New M&A Executive: Greycroft's Kamran Ansari

Pinterest has hired Kamran Ansari, a principal at Greycroft Partners, to work on corporate development, according to a Greycroft spokesperson.

A Pinterest* spokesperson confirmed the new hire to Re/code, but declined to share specifics of the role. “We’re thrilled to welcome Kamran to Pinterest to lead corporate development as we continue to grow the company both domestically and internationally,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

Corporate development roles typically mean a focus on acquisitions and investments, and Pinterest has a lot of cash in the bank for this type of activity. The company just announced $367 million in new funding at an $11 billion valuation, so it may be ready to take a closer look at potential acquisition targets.

Ansari worked at Greycroft for the past three years, and led a handful of the firm’s investments, including investments in peer-to-peer payments company Venmo and then Braintree, which bought Venmo. Before Greycroft he worked at MyYearbook as head of corporate development, where among other things he also focused on commerce.

Ansari’s commerce background is interesting given recent happenings at Pinterest. The company is working on a “Buy” button, and also changed up its affiliate links policy to keep others from capitalizing on the platform for business.

In other words, it appears to be gearing up for a commerce-related push.

Ansari won’t be severing ties completely with Greycroft. He’ll stay on as a venture partner with the firm recommending new deals, and will continue to manage some of the firm’s existing investments. He’ll also retain a few of his board seats.

Ansari will start at Pinterest next week and will report to Head of Business Development Gene Alston.

* Pinterest executive Joanne Bradford is an independent board member of Re/code’s parent company Revere Digital and has no involvement in our editorial process.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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