NEW YORK — Walgreens CIO Abhi Dhar is slated to exit the company next month to lead an online marketing startup company focusing on the retail arena, according to CIO magazine.

Abhi Dahr

Walgreens declined to comment to CIO about a replacement for Dhar.

Dhar’s LinkedIn page describes him as the co-founder and CEO of an Illinois-based digital startup that “provides a marketing platform for retail locations to interact with qualified local consumers through easy and elegant experiences.”

The page says that Dhar is now raising a seed round of funding to launch the venture in two markets this year.

Dhar joined Walgreens in September 2009 as group vice president and chief technology officer. He became senior VP and CIO for Walgreens in November 2014 and was appointed to his current title, chief digital officer of Walgreens Boots Alliance and CIO of Retail Pharmacy USA, this past November.

He joined Walgreens in 2009 from TravelCLICK, where he served as senior VP and CIO from 2006 to 2009. Prior to that, he held technology leadership roles at Cendant Corp. and its Travelport division and had worked in engineering and digital/online consulting roles at PricewaterhouseCoopers and AT&T.