Tag: Kunal Bahl

  • ‘Unbox Zindagi’ Snapdeal’s new identity

    ‘Unbox Zindagi’ Snapdeal’s new identity

    MUMBAI: Snapdeal India has announced the launch of its new brand identity, which aims to capture the pulse of a confident, aspirational India.

    The new identity repositions Snapdeal as the platform that believes in the potential and dreams of its consumers and partners them in their journey to a better life. The heart of the positioning is about recognizing the real needs of the users and understanding that each purchase is not just a transaction, but an opportunity to upgrade to a better life, expressed in the new brand identity as “Unbox Zindagi.”

    Starting today, Snapdeal users will be able to experience the new identity across multiple touch points ranging from brand communication to browsing, from discovery to decision and culminating in the key moment when the new boxes will be delivered to the users.Highlighting the philosophy behind the brand re-positioning, Snapdeal CEO and co-founder Kunal Bahl said “India is transforming rapidly. Their aspirations and desires are based not on where they come from but where they can reach. We seek to engage with the next 100 million online shoppers from all parts of an increasingly connected India.”

    Snapdeal co-founder Rohit Bansal said, “The impact of e-commerce allows consumers to overcome third world constraints and aspire for better lives. At Snapdeal, the delivery of functional benefits like speed, convenience and value is everyday work, but our larger journey is about being the bridge between access and aspiration”.

    Prasoon Joshi and his team at McCann have conceived and executed the “Unbox Zindagi” campaign. Elaborating on the concept of the campaign, McCann Worldgroup CEO India and chairman Asia Pacific Prasoon Joshi said “When a ‘boxed’ existence is opened up, it unleashes great human potential.”

    The campaign has brought to life by series of films directed by Amit Sharma and his team at Chrome. The lyrics of “Unbox Zindagi” have been written by Prasoon Joshi and set to uplifting soundtrack by the legendary musical genius of Shankar, Ehsaan & Loy. Raj Kamble, Founder and CCO of Famous Innovations has created the striking visual imagery for the logo launch film and print campaigns.

    The brand design, built around the distinct red box and the possibilities that each unboxing brings, has been led personally by Design Studio CEO Paul Stafford.

    The new brand identity has been rolled out on the app, website, m-site and through all brand communication. A campaign, with the new brand identity, will appear in the form of TVCs, print, outdoor and all digital media including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

  • DEN Networks takes control of Snapdeal home shopping JV

    DEN Networks takes control of Snapdeal home shopping JV

    MUMBAI: Jasper Infotech CEOs Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal are working on getting their ecommerce platform Snapdeal in ship shape by focusing on customer satisfaction and net revenues instead of gross merchandise value (GMV). This follows the march that rivals such as Flipkart and Amazon have stolen from it.

    Getting rid of any diversifications and other assets that are not scaling up is probably part of the fitness plan. And that explains why the company has decided to divest its equity stake in Macro Commerce Private Ltd, which operates the DEN-Snapdeal home shopping channel.

    When it was launched as a 50:50 joint venture with cable TV MSO DEN Networks with much hype last year, Bahl had stated that he was targeting Rs 500 crore in revenues from TV commerce in year one.
    The numbers did not stack up and Snapdeal TV did a turnover of Rs 3.17 crore in 2015 and Rs 28 crore in 2017.

    DEN Network promoter Sameer Manchanda probably has more faith in the home shopping television initiative than Bahl. Hence, late last week DEN informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that it was buying an additional 32.87 per cent stake in the company from Jasper Infotech at a cost of Rs 60 million. Rs 10 million is for purchase of existing shares and Rs 50 million is through a rights issue, which will lead to an infusion of funds into Macro Commerce.

    Post the acquisition, DEN Networks’ shareholding will rise to 82.87 per cent in Macro from the 50 per cent currently.

    The purpose of the deal, the cable MSO says, is to take a controlling stake in the venture, expand the business and effectively manage the operations of the TV channel.

    The market responded well to DEN Networks’ announcement: its shares rose to Rs 94.70 in early morning trades, then dropped to Rs 89.90 – a rise of 0.35 paise over its previous close by day’s end.

  • DEN Networks takes control of Snapdeal home shopping JV

    DEN Networks takes control of Snapdeal home shopping JV

    MUMBAI: Jasper Infotech CEOs Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal are working on getting their ecommerce platform Snapdeal in ship shape by focusing on customer satisfaction and net revenues instead of gross merchandise value (GMV). This follows the march that rivals such as Flipkart and Amazon have stolen from it.

    Getting rid of any diversifications and other assets that are not scaling up is probably part of the fitness plan. And that explains why the company has decided to divest its equity stake in Macro Commerce Private Ltd, which operates the DEN-Snapdeal home shopping channel.

    When it was launched as a 50:50 joint venture with cable TV MSO DEN Networks with much hype last year, Bahl had stated that he was targeting Rs 500 crore in revenues from TV commerce in year one.
    The numbers did not stack up and Snapdeal TV did a turnover of Rs 3.17 crore in 2015 and Rs 28 crore in 2017.

    DEN Network promoter Sameer Manchanda probably has more faith in the home shopping television initiative than Bahl. Hence, late last week DEN informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that it was buying an additional 32.87 per cent stake in the company from Jasper Infotech at a cost of Rs 60 million. Rs 10 million is for purchase of existing shares and Rs 50 million is through a rights issue, which will lead to an infusion of funds into Macro Commerce.

    Post the acquisition, DEN Networks’ shareholding will rise to 82.87 per cent in Macro from the 50 per cent currently.

    The purpose of the deal, the cable MSO says, is to take a controlling stake in the venture, expand the business and effectively manage the operations of the TV channel.

    The market responded well to DEN Networks’ announcement: its shares rose to Rs 94.70 in early morning trades, then dropped to Rs 89.90 – a rise of 0.35 paise over its previous close by day’s end.

  • CNN to air India’s Big Chance from 11 June

    CNN to air India’s Big Chance from 11 June

    MUMBAI: India is the fastest growing economy in the world. In the past two years, the country even managed to benefit from the global crude oil price crash. The largest democracy on earth has a young and vibrant population and is poised for a technological boom. As it opens up to a globalised world, India still has a depth of history and intensity of culture that awes and fascinates tourists from all parts of the world.

    During the half-hour special, CNN’s Indian-born Fareed Zakaria speaks with some of India’s key figures including:

    • Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man and Chairman of Reliance Industries Limited, the country’s second most profitable company

    • Bollywood’s #1 superstar Shah Rukh Khan

    • Kunal Bahl, founder and CEO of SnapDeal, India’s leading e-commerce platform

    Coming from different professional branches, the portrayed personalities try to find out if now is India’s big chance.

    Airtimes (New Delhi/Mumbai)
    Saturday June 11 at 1900 IST
    Sunday June 12 at 1100 IST
    Monday June 13 and at 0000 IST
    Tuesday June 14 at 2200 IST
    Wednesday June 15 at 1400 IST

  • CNN to air India’s Big Chance from 11 June

    CNN to air India’s Big Chance from 11 June

    MUMBAI: India is the fastest growing economy in the world. In the past two years, the country even managed to benefit from the global crude oil price crash. The largest democracy on earth has a young and vibrant population and is poised for a technological boom. As it opens up to a globalised world, India still has a depth of history and intensity of culture that awes and fascinates tourists from all parts of the world.

    During the half-hour special, CNN’s Indian-born Fareed Zakaria speaks with some of India’s key figures including:

    • Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man and Chairman of Reliance Industries Limited, the country’s second most profitable company

    • Bollywood’s #1 superstar Shah Rukh Khan

    • Kunal Bahl, founder and CEO of SnapDeal, India’s leading e-commerce platform

    Coming from different professional branches, the portrayed personalities try to find out if now is India’s big chance.

    Airtimes (New Delhi/Mumbai)
    Saturday June 11 at 1900 IST
    Sunday June 12 at 1100 IST
    Monday June 13 and at 0000 IST
    Tuesday June 14 at 2200 IST
    Wednesday June 15 at 1400 IST

  • CNN-News18 Marks a Milestone: Announces 10th Edition of ‘INDIAN OF THE YEAR’

    CNN-News18 Marks a Milestone: Announces 10th Edition of ‘INDIAN OF THE YEAR’

    MUMBAI: After nine glorious years of honouring individuals and organisations that embody the spirit of excellence, CNN-News18 is all set to celebrate the iconic Indians who have made a significant contribution to our society with their achievements in 2015. CNN-News18 presents the 10th edition of its flagship initiative – ‘Indian of the Year’ (IOTY), which over the years has become one of the biggest and most credible awards in Indian media. The winners will be felicitated at a glittering ceremony to be held at Taj Palace, New Delhi on 9th June, 2016.

    Instituted in 2006, the CNN-News18 Indian of the Year has over the years achieved prestige and credibility unmatched by others in the media industry. The award distinguishes itself by celebrating not only exemplary individuals and their achievements but also the ideas that have inspired India and impacted lives.

    The awards adhere to a transparent and robust selection procedure that includes the Editorial Board drawing up a list of nominees, further leading to the final selection of winners by a Jury comprising a select group of distinguished personalities. This year’s jury panel includes Soli Sarabjee, Former Attorney General of India, Kiran Karnik, Former President of NASSCOM, Kunal Bahl, Co-Founder & CEO of Snapdeal, Harish Salve, Leading Lawyer and Former Solicitor General of India, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman & MD of Biocon,Deepak Parekh, Chairman of HDFC, Mohanlal V Nair, Noted Thespian and Leander Paes, Tennis Champion.

    The carefully selected categories for the awards are Sports, Entertainment, Business and Public Service. Other achievers are awarded under the categories of Special Achievement, Outstanding Achievement, Special Jury Award and Lifetime Achievement.One individual/organisation will be bestowed with the coveted ‘Indian of the Year’ Award for their indelible contribution to society. Over the years, the recipients of this prestigious award have included the likes of PM Narendra Modi, NGO Stop Acid Attacks, Vishwanathan Anand, AR Rahman, Team Chandrayan and E. Sreedharan.

    Commenting on the announcement of the Awards, Radhakrishnan Nair, Managing Editor, CNN-News18, said, “I take great pride in the fact that Indian of the Year has seen immense success and acceptance as an institute that has over the years established itself as an exemplary model for Indian media awards. The 10th edition of the awards marks a tremendous milestone for CNN-News18 and we look forward to a great show honouring the winners.”

  • CNN-News18 Marks a Milestone: Announces 10th Edition of ‘INDIAN OF THE YEAR’

    CNN-News18 Marks a Milestone: Announces 10th Edition of ‘INDIAN OF THE YEAR’

    MUMBAI: After nine glorious years of honouring individuals and organisations that embody the spirit of excellence, CNN-News18 is all set to celebrate the iconic Indians who have made a significant contribution to our society with their achievements in 2015. CNN-News18 presents the 10th edition of its flagship initiative – ‘Indian of the Year’ (IOTY), which over the years has become one of the biggest and most credible awards in Indian media. The winners will be felicitated at a glittering ceremony to be held at Taj Palace, New Delhi on 9th June, 2016.

    Instituted in 2006, the CNN-News18 Indian of the Year has over the years achieved prestige and credibility unmatched by others in the media industry. The award distinguishes itself by celebrating not only exemplary individuals and their achievements but also the ideas that have inspired India and impacted lives.

    The awards adhere to a transparent and robust selection procedure that includes the Editorial Board drawing up a list of nominees, further leading to the final selection of winners by a Jury comprising a select group of distinguished personalities. This year’s jury panel includes Soli Sarabjee, Former Attorney General of India, Kiran Karnik, Former President of NASSCOM, Kunal Bahl, Co-Founder & CEO of Snapdeal, Harish Salve, Leading Lawyer and Former Solicitor General of India, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman & MD of Biocon,Deepak Parekh, Chairman of HDFC, Mohanlal V Nair, Noted Thespian and Leander Paes, Tennis Champion.

    The carefully selected categories for the awards are Sports, Entertainment, Business and Public Service. Other achievers are awarded under the categories of Special Achievement, Outstanding Achievement, Special Jury Award and Lifetime Achievement.One individual/organisation will be bestowed with the coveted ‘Indian of the Year’ Award for their indelible contribution to society. Over the years, the recipients of this prestigious award have included the likes of PM Narendra Modi, NGO Stop Acid Attacks, Vishwanathan Anand, AR Rahman, Team Chandrayan and E. Sreedharan.

    Commenting on the announcement of the Awards, Radhakrishnan Nair, Managing Editor, CNN-News18, said, “I take great pride in the fact that Indian of the Year has seen immense success and acceptance as an institute that has over the years established itself as an exemplary model for Indian media awards. The 10th edition of the awards marks a tremendous milestone for CNN-News18 and we look forward to a great show honouring the winners.”

  • Snapdeal names Aircel’s Anup Vikal as CFO

    Snapdeal names Aircel’s Anup Vikal as CFO

    MUMBAI: Snapdeal has appointed Anup Vikal as the chief financial officer (CFO).

     

    A seasoned finance professional Vikal brings over 23 years of experience in finance, strategy and corporate governance across multiple industry sectors.

     

    Prior to his appointment at Snapdeal, he served as CFO at Aircel, where he was responsible for building business through revenue growth, implementing massive cost optimisation, restructuring of debt and capital, improving the Credit Rating of the company as well as interfacing with the government, TRAI and other authorities. 

     

    Before joining Aircel, Vikal was the group CFO and head of strategy and IT at InterGlobe Enterprises. Earlier, he also served as director and head of finance shared services for Colt Technology for three years and Bharti Airtel where he headed the finance division for close to seven years.

     

    Snapdeal co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl said, “We are very excited to have Anup on-board. His wealth of experience in building and executing the financial infrastructure in companies across complex large organisations in the country will further strengthen our leadership team.”

     

    Vikal added, “In the last few years, Snapdeal has emerged as a leader within the e-commerce and tech space and I look forward to joining the young and energetic Snapdeal family. E-commerce is a dynamic and interesting space to work with and my focus will be to ensure we are financially well positioned yet nimble so that we can continue to create value for our customers, sellers, investors and employees.”

     

    He will be based out of Snapdeal’s Gurgaon office.

  • PepperTap eyes $56 million in funding; raises $36 mn from Snapdeal & others

    PepperTap eyes $56 million in funding; raises $36 mn from Snapdeal & others

    MUMBAI: The e-commerce business is attracting funding galore in India. In a bid to boost its expansion plans, nine month old on-demand hyperlocal grocery delivery service PepperTap is eyeing to raise funds to the tune of $56 million. While the company has closed a Series B funding round of $36 million from multiple investors, it is also in advanced talks with financial investors to close another round of an additional $20 million, which is expected to close in the coming few weeks.

     

    The latest funding round of $36 million was led by Snapdeal along with existing investors Sequoia India and SAIF Partners. The funding also saw participation from new investors like Ru-net, JAFCO, and BeeNext.

     

    With the infusion of fresh funds, PepperTap plans to expand its presence to 75 cities across India by the end of the current fiscal year. The company also plans to invest heavily in strengthening its technology and supply chain capabilities. PepperTap expects to have more than 5,000 staff by year end to support its operations.

     

    PepperTap co-founder and CEO Navneet Singh said, “PepperTap has been on a hyper-growth track since its inception nine months ago. From less than $1 million GMV run rate at the start of Fiscal Year 2015-16, we are solidly on track to end the year with a GMV run-rate of over $250 million. Investment by an established player like Snapdeal is a stamp on our asset-light, low burn business model and our execution track record. We look forward to leveraging Snapdeal’s experience to help our partner stores develop their capabilities and multiply their sales.”

     

    Snapdeal co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl added, “We are excited to be entering into a strategic partnership with PepperTap. Navneet and his team have done a phenomenal job in building PepperTap into India’s leading grocery ordering platform. We look forward to working closely with PepperTap to make them very successful, leveraging the capabilities we have built in Snapdeal’s ecosystem.”

     

    Sequoia India MD Shailendra Singh said, “PepperTap is making exciting progress in building the most efficient hyper-local infrastructure to deliver a great user experience for grocery shopping. It’s thrilling to see the incredible progress Navneet and team have made since Sequoia India’s seed investment and we’re delighted to support them in their journey.”

     

    SAIF Partners’ Ravi Adusumalli added, “Since our investments a short while ago, the team at PepperTap has done an extraordinary job of growing and establishing themselves as the clear leader in the hyperlocal grocery space. We believe that this is a massive market and our focus only on groceries will enable us to have the best customer service in the market.”

  • Snapdeal raises $500 million investment from Alibaba, SoftBank & Foxconn

    Snapdeal raises $500 million investment from Alibaba, SoftBank & Foxconn

    MUMBAI: Snapdeal has secured an investment of $500 million led by Alibaba Group, Foxconn and SoftBank to power its digital commerce ecosystem.

     

    Existing investors Temasek, BlackRock, Myriad and Premji Invest also participated in this round.

     

    Snapdeal co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl said, “We see this milestone as a significant endorsement of Snapdeal’s strategy and commitment to creating life changing experiences for millions of small businesses and consumers in India. With global leaders like Alibaba, Foxconn and SoftBank, in addition to our other existing partners, supporting us, our efforts towards building India’s most impactful digital commerce ecosystem will be propelled further, enabling us to contribute towards creating a Digital India.”