Brands
PeopleStrong names Aashay Manake as chief people officer
NEW DELHI: PeopleStrong has pressed refresh on its leadership bench, appointing Aashay Manake as chief people officer to steer its people and culture agenda through its next growth chapter.
Manake joins the Asia-focused human capital management SaaS player from Jubilant FoodWorks, where he served as vice president HR, overseeing people strategy across large, multi-brand and widely distributed teams. In his new role, he will focus on leadership development, workforce effectiveness and organisational readiness as PeopleStrong scales across markets.
With over 16 years of experience, Manake has built his career in fast-moving and complex environments, spanning FMCG, industrial conglomerates, hospitality, consumer tech, and food services. His résumé includes senior people leadership stints at ITC, GE and OYO, giving him a front-row view of transformation at scale.
An alumnus of SCMHRD, Manake has led enterprise-wide HR charters covering performance and rewards, talent and leadership development, employee relations and organisational design, often during periods of rapid change.
Welcoming him on board, PeopleStrong CEO Sandeep Chaudhary, said the appointment reflects the company’s belief that caring for people is central to business success. He noted that as organisations grapple with increasingly complex workforce realities, leaders who combine HR expertise with strong process thinking and human insight are essential.
Manake echoed the sentiment, saying PeopleStrong has long set benchmarks in progressive people practices. He added that he looks forward to strengthening capabilities, building scalable people systems and fostering a culture that brings energy, purpose and joy to work.
The appointment underlines PeopleStrong’s people-first philosophy as it sharpens its long-term growth ambitions. The company currently powers over 500 enterprises, serves more than 2 million users and processes upwards of 1.75 million paycheques every month. Its HR mobile app boasts a 4.8 rating across iOS and Android, and PeopleStrong has been recognised as a Customers’ Choice in Gartner’s Cloud HCM Suites category for enterprises with over 1,000 employees from 2022 to 2025.
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.
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.
Brands
TechnoSport taps quick commerce with launch on Slikk’s 60-minute platform
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.
-
iWorld3 months agoTips Music turns up the heat with Tamil party anthem Mayangiren
-
iWorld12 months agoBSNL rings in a revival with Rs 4,969 crore revenue
-
I&B Ministry3 months agoIndia steps up fight against digital piracy
-
MAM3 months agoHoABL soars high with dazzling Nagpur sebut
-
News Broadcasting6 months agoWion marks Independence Day with global showcase of India’s spirit
-
iWorld2 days agoNetflix celebrates a decade in India with Shah Rukh Khan-narrated tribute film
-
iWorld3 months agoThe Night Manager returns with new secrets, new spies and old scars
-
iWorld6 months agoNaseeruddin Shah steps into J.R.D. Tata’s shoes in Amazon MX Player’s Made in India – A Titan Story
