MAM
Autoverse Mobility appoints Rama Shankar Pandey as co-founder, launches parts platform
MUMBAI: Autoverse Mobility has announced the appointment of automotive industry veteran Rama Shankar Pandey as its co-founder, alongside the launch of the autoverse parts procurement platform, an integrated digital ecosystem designed to help independent workshops source genuine parts quickly and reliably.
Pandey, former managing director of Hella India Lighting and a long-standing executive committee member at ACMA, joins the leadership team as the company strengthens its technology-led aftermarket strategy. His career spans more than two decades, with senior roles at Bosch, Tata Green Batteries and Hella’s India operations. He has also chaired ACMA’s aftermarket committee, where he played a key role in shaping policy and industry collaboration for the independent servicing ecosystem.
Autoverse’s newly introduced procurement platform aims to streamline the fragmented multibrand workshop network, where garages often face delays, unreliable sourcing, and inconsistent access to genuine parts. The fully integrated system connects workshops directly with OEMs, OES manufacturers, and authorised distributors, creating a transparent and efficient supply chain.
The platform includes more than 6 million car–part mappings for precise fitment checks, real-time stock visibility and pricing, integrated ordering and tracking, category-wise support for key components, and built-in garage management tools such as loyalty programmes, automated recommendations and performance insights.
Backed by Autoverse’s expanding network of own and partner warehouses, the company promises delivery of high-demand parts within 45 minutes, powered by a hybrid milk-run and express logistics model.
Speaking on his new role, Pandey said Autoverse is building “a transparent, tech-enabled supply chain” that addresses one of the biggest challenges faced by workshops: sourcing genuine parts quickly and reliably. “With the launch of our integrated partner app and web platform, we are creating a future-ready ecosystem that delivers authenticity, speed and operational efficiency,” he added.
Autoverse Mobility founder and CEO Mihir Mohan said Pandey’s leadership depth will be pivotal as the company scales nationwide. “With our new platform, we are strengthening our promise of timely access to genuine, high-quality parts, enabling garages to deliver safer and more dependable service to car owners,” he added.
Autoverse also hosted an event bringing together more than 75 multi brand workshops, where the platform and Pandey’s new role were formally introduced, signalling deeper collaboration within the automotive aftermarket.
Brands
Delhivery chairman Deepak Kapoor, independent director Saugata Gupta quit board
Gurugram: Delhivery’s boardroom is being reset. Deepak Kapoor, chairman and independent director, has resigned with effect from April 1 as part of a planned board reconstitution, the logistics company said in an exchange filing. Saugata Gupta, managing director and chief executive of FMCG major Marico and an independent director on Delhivery’s board, has also stepped down.
Kapoor exits after an eight-year stint that included steering the company through its 2022 stock-market debut, a period that saw Delhivery transform from a venture-backed upstart into one of India’s most visible logistics platforms. Gupta, who joined the board in 2021, departs alongside him, marking a simultaneous clearing of two senior independent seats.
“Deepak and Saugata have been instrumental in our process of recognising the need for and enabling the reconstitution of the board of directors in line with our ambitious next phase of growth,” said Sahil Barua, managing director and chief executive, Delhivery. The statement frames the exits less as departures and more as deliberate succession, a boardroom shuffle timed to the company’s evolving scale and strategy.
The resignations arrive amid broader governance recalibration. In 2025, Delhivery appointed Emcure Pharmaceuticals whole-time director Namita Thapar, PB Fintech founder and chairman Yashish Dahiya, and IIM Bangalore faculty member Padmini Srinivasan as independent directors, signalling a tilt towards consumer, fintech and academic expertise at the board level.
Kapoor’s tenure spanned Delhivery’s most defining years, rapid network expansion, public listing and the push towards profitability in a bruising logistics market. Gupta’s presence brought FMCG and brand-scale perspective during a period when ecommerce volumes and last-mile delivery economics were being rewritten.
The twin exits, effective from the new financial year, underscore a familiar corporate rhythm: founders consolidate, veterans rotate out, and fresh voices are ushered in to script the next chapter. In India’s hyper-competitive logistics race, even the boardroom does not stand still.
MAM
Meta appoints Anuvrat Rao as APAC head of commerce partnerships
At Locofy.ai, Rao helped convert a three-year free beta into a paid engine, clocking 1,000 subscribers and 15 enterprise clients within ten days of launch in September 2024. The low-code startup, backed by Accel and top tech founders, is famed for turning designs into production-ready code using proprietary large design models.
Before that, Rao founded generative AI venture 1Bstories, which was acquired by creative AI platform Laetro in mid-2024, where he briefly served as managing director for APAC. Alongside operating roles, he has been an active investor and advisor since 2020, backing startups such as BotMD, Muxy, Creator plus, Intellect, Sealed and CricFlex through a creator-economy-led thesis.
Rao spent over eight years at Google, holding senior partnership roles across search, assistant, chrome, web and YouTube in APAC, and earlier cut his teeth in strategy consulting at OC&C in London and investment finance at W. P. Carey in Europe and the US.
Brands
Brnd.me enters Europe as haircare brands power global expansion
Bengaluru: Brnd.me, the global consumer brands company formerly known as Mensa Brands, has entered the European market following strong momentum across the Middle East, the United States and Canada.
The company has launched across the UK, Germany, France and Spain, with plans to expand into Italy, the Netherlands and Poland over the next year. The push is being led by its haircare and aromatherapy brands, Botanic Hearth and Majestic Pure, marking Brnd.me’s first structured expansion into Europe.
The European beauty market represents a total addressable opportunity of over $4 billion across haircare and aromatherapy, supported by high digital adoption and demand for accessible, performance-led products.
Brnd.me’s hair care and aromatherapy business currently operates at an annual run rate of around $6 million, with Botanic Hearth and Majestic Pure delivering roughly 10 per cent month-on-month growth, driven by expansion and rising repeat demand.
To support regional growth, the company has appointed a general manager based in Germany and is evaluating investments in warehousing and local team expansion.
Early traction has been strong. Within weeks of launch, Botanic Hearth’s rosemary hair oil ranked among the top five hair oils in Germany, signalling strong consumer pull in a competitive market.
Brnd.me founder and chief executive officer Ananth Narayanan, said Europe represents the next phase of the company’s international strategy. He added that the European business is expected to scale to a $10 million annual run rate by the end of 2026, with long-term ambitions to reach $60 million over the next six years.
The company’s Europe strategy centres on digital-first distribution, repeat demand and TikTok-led discovery, alongside direct-to-consumer expansion to strengthen brand equity and margins.
The move also aligns with growing EU–India trade engagement, supporting long-term sourcing and cross-border supply chains.
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