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Blue Star reshuffles board as Sam Balsara exits, new leadership steps up

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MUMBAI: Blue Star is shaking up its boardroom quietly, decisively, and with an eye firmly on the next phase of growth. One of India’s most recognisable corporate brands is refreshing its leadership bench as a marketing legend exits, a seasoned industrialist enters, and the executive engine gets more firepower .

Sam Balsara, chairman of Madison World and one of Indian advertising’s most influential figures, will retire as independent director on January 31 after completing two consecutive terms. Having joined the board in June 2017 and been reappointed in 2022, Balsara leaves at 75, closing a chapter defined by sharp brand thinking and a steady hand on consumer strategy. As chairman of the nomination and remuneration committee, his influence extended deep into leadership development and succession planning, shaping Blue Star’s next generation of decision-makers .

Stepping into the independent director role is M S Unnikrishnan, appointed for a five-year term with effect from January 29. With more than four decades of experience, Unnikrishnan currently heads the IITB–Monash Research Academy and previously ran Thermax group as managing director, steering the engineering major across global energy and environment businesses. His boardroom résumé already includes KEC International, Kirloskar Brothers, Greaves Cotton and Livguard Energy Technologies, alongside trusteeships at Akshayapatra and Jehangir Hospital, Pune. A mechanical engineering graduate from VNIT Nagpur with an advanced management programme from Harvard Business School, Unnikrishnan brings operational heft and global exposure to Blue Star’s board .

Continuity, however, remains central. B Thiagarajan has been reappointed managing director for a further term from April 1, 2026, through May 24, 2027—one day short of his 70th birthday. A Blue Star lifer since 1998, Thiagarajan has clocked more than four decades across B2B and B2C businesses, rising from board member in 2013 to joint managing director in 2016 and managing director in 2019. An electrical and electronics engineer from Madurai University with a senior executive programme from London Business School, he continues to play a prominent role in industry bodies including the CII national council, the Indian Green Building Council and the CII Green Cooling Council .

The executive bench is also getting younger muscle. Mohit Sud has been elevated as executive director, unitary cooling products, for a five-year term starting April 1, 2026. Sud joined Blue Star in March 2025 as group president, overseeing room air conditioners and commercial refrigeration with end-to-end responsibility spanning sales, marketing, R&D, manufacturing and supply chain. A mechanical engineer with an MBA from XLRI Jamshedpur, Sud spent over two decades at Hindustan Unilever, leading sales and marketing across home care and beauty and wellbeing categories, most recently driving premium retail distribution .

Vir S Advani, chairman and managing director, framed the changes as both an inflection point and a vote of confidence. He credited Balsara with helping sharpen the brand’s relevance among younger consumers and deeper-tier markets, noting that his marketing insights helped Blue Star gain market share year after year. Unnikrishnan, Advani said, adds proven leadership across engineering products and international markets, while Thiagarajan’s extension will accelerate strategic programmes in growth, R&D and manufacturing and ensure a seamless leadership transition. On Sud, Advani was bluntly bullish, saying the company has been grooming him for board-level responsibility and that his consumer-market experience will help lift market share and profitability in unitary cooling products .

At 82 years old, Blue Star is signalling that longevity does not mean inertia. With one era ending and another being carefully engineered, the company is betting that fresh thinking, steady leadership and sharper execution will keep it cool—and competitive—when the heat is on.

 

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Delhivery chairman Deepak Kapoor, independent director Saugata Gupta quit board

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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.

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Brnd.me enters Europe as haircare brands power global expansion

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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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TechnoSport taps quick commerce with launch on Slikk’s 60-minute platform

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NATIONAL: TechnoSport has launched on Slikk, the ultra-fast fashion app offering 60-minute delivery, as the activewear brand accelerates its push into quick commerce to capture Gen Z and young millennial shoppers.

The debut brings more than 150 high-performance styles to Slikk’s platform, with an average selling price of Rs 450, expanding TechnoSport’s reach across over 80 pin codes.

The partnership follows strong momentum for TechnoSport across Q-commerce channels, where the brand has recorded around 60 per cent volume growth over the past six months. The company expects quick commerce to contribute nearly 20 per cent of its revenue in the coming years as hyperlocal delivery gains scale.

Slikk, which recently raised $3.2 million in seed funding led by Lightspeed, has rapidly gained popularity among youth consumers seeking speed, trend relevance and impulse-led shopping experiences.

Activewear remains one of Slikk’s fastest-growing categories, driven by shoppers increasingly treating fitness-led fashion as an everyday essential. The platform has reported a 30-fold year-on-year increase in items sold, reflecting rising demand for performance wear that blends comfort with style.

TechnoSport chief executive officer Puspen Maity, said the collaboration would help the brand engage more closely with young consumers whose fashion choices are shaped by instant needs and lifestyle aspirations. He added that rapid delivery bridges the gap between intent and purchase, allowing shoppers to access activewear exactly when they want it.

 

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