MAM
Swedish design stars shine brightly at Design Mumbai 2025
MUMBAI: Design Mumbai 2025 has opened to a full house of global tastemakers, and three Swedish names are stealing a noticeable share of the spotlight. String Furniture, Hästens Beds and Blå Station have arrived with their signature blend of simplicity, craftsmanship and quiet sophistication, drawing crowds from India’s ever-growing community of design-hungry consumers.
Design Mumbai has become a fixture on the international design calendar, bringing together architects, interior specialists and brands from across the world. With Mumbai’s expanding middle class seeking sustainable, functional and aesthetically refined products, Swedish design finds itself in an ideal position to flourish in the city.
“Swedish design stands for more than form. It is rooted in sustainability, quality and innovation. These are values increasingly sought by Mumbai’s growing middle class. Swedish companies are not only exporting products but also ideas about what future homes and workplaces can be,” said Sweden (Mumbai) consul general Sven Östberg. He inaugurated String Furniture’s pavilion, where the brand’s iconic modular shelving met lively interest from Indian visitors, before exploring Hästens’ handcrafted luxury beds and Blå Station’s playful yet minimalist seating.
Speaking about Hästens’ presence in India, Hästens Beds India general manager Mats Joseph Fernandes, said the brand is finding a receptive audience. “Today’s luxury consumer seeks authenticity, purity of materials and a lifestyle of refined taste. At Hästens, true luxury lies in craftsmanship and rare natural materials. These beds are not just designed for comfort, they are masterpieces of heritage. India’s evolving luxury landscape is welcoming brands with legacy and purpose.”
Mumbai’s position as a city of over 20 million residents, many of them young professionals and entrepreneurs, makes it a strategic launchpad for Swedish design. Demand for premium furniture and interiors continues to climb as more consumers seek global standards for their homes and workspaces.
String Furniture CEO Jonas Wetterlöf, said the response has been encouraging. “String Furniture, designed in 1949, is known for its ingenious simplicity and adaptability, making it ideal for India’s dynamic urban lifestyle. Our systems are customisable, multi-functional and built to last. The enthusiasm at Design Mumbai 2025 has been remarkable.”
String Furniture is also marking a milestone year with the unveiling of Pira G2, a modern take on the seven-decade-old Pira floor-to-ceiling shelving system. The new edition blends architectural elegance with everyday practicality, catering to contemporary Indian homes.
Together, the Swedish exhibitors illustrate how closely Scandinavian values align with India’s evolving design aspirations. For consumers who prioritise long-lasting quality, thoughtful craft and a modern aesthetic, the Swedish showcase offers a refreshing alternative to mass-produced décor.
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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