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Tag: Nitin Sharma

  • ONDC announces ‘Build for Bharat’ nationwide initiative

    ONDC announces ‘Build for Bharat’ nationwide initiative

    Mumbai: The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), in collaboration with Google Cloud India, Antler in India, Paytm, Protean, and Startup India announces the ‘Build for Bharat’ initiative. The initiative aims to tackle diverse challenges in digital commerce, promoting industry innovation to develop practical solutions in this space.

    ‘Build for Bharat’ intends to tap into India’s technological and entrepreneurial potential with an expected participation of 200K+ participants representing startups, companies, and colleges. Prioritizing a participative and ecosystem-driven framework, the initiative is organized at a national scale across 50+ cities with top experts, leaders, VCs, and incubators onboard.

    To kick-start the initiative, an event took place on December 4, unveiling the problem statements for participants and extending an invitation for registration. Covering Retail, Mobility, F&B, Financial Services, and Logistics sectors, the initiative is designed to deliver three distinct outcomes as follows:

    1    Category 1 – ‘NextGen Ventures’’ is designed to supercharge venture creation on ONDC. Open to aspiring founders exploring multiple ideas or early-stage founder teams working on an idea, this track provides a pathway to raising capital, launching, scaling companies, and incubating new businesses.

    2    Category 2 includes Scalable solutions and invites participation from organizations or individuals including students with a focus on solving friction points faced by Network Participants.

    3    Category 3 includes Foundation solutions, exclusively for college students (18+) to identify proof of concept for the friction points faced by NPs.

    Prizes and Collaborations:

    Category 1 winners in ‘NextGen Ventures’ will enjoy exclusive opportunities from Antler in India and mentorship from industry stalwarts. They receive a chance to avail equity-free grants of up to INR 5 Crores. Winning teams also gain the opportunity to join Antler Residency, opening avenues for potential VC funding. This residency program not only offers capital but also serves as a platform for early founders to validate their ideas, build their teams, and launch and scale their companies. Moreover, Google India will provide shortlisted teams with Cloud credits accompanied by valuable tech guidance.

    Category 2 eligible winners are slated to receive Cloud credits from Google Cloud India for shortlisted teams and also for eligible winning startups.

    Category 3 winners benefit from Google Cloud India’s contributions, including Cloud credits for shortlisted teams and also credits for eligible winning startups.

    ONDC CEO & MD T Koshy said, “We are excited to organize this nationwide initiative focused on building innovative solutions for India’s rapidly growing digital commerce ecosystem. Initiatives like ‘Build for Bharat’ will unleash the talent and potential of India’s startup and student community to drive meaningful impact at scale. Through grants, investments, and recognition, we hope to nurture the best ideas into sustainable businesses.”

    Google Cloud India managing editor Bikram Singh Bedi said, “Google Cloud is committed to empowering India’s entrepreneurial energy and technical capabilities. The ‘Build for Bharat’ initiative, provides a platform to develop scalable solutions that can transform the digital ecosystem on a large scale. By bringing together students, startups, and businesses, we aim to foster collaboration and innovation towards an inclusive digital economy.”

    Antler in India partner & co-founder Nitin Sharma said, “At Antler, we were one of the first VCs to go very deep into a thesis on the game-changing potential of ONDC, asking ourselves whether it could do digital commerce what UPI did to payments. E-commerce requires moving atoms, not just bits, and also requires aggregation of a large number of small players. ONDC has a massive vision around reimagining and unbundling commerce, and we are committed to making more investments into the space. Through the ‘Build for Bharat’ initiative, we want to enable high-potential Indian founders with resources, an expert network, community and capital to build on ONDC.

    Paytm senior VP Sudhanshu Gupta said “As a buyer and seller network participant for ONDC, our mission is to bring the power of e-commerce to every seller and buyer in the country. Paytm se ONDC Network has gained massive popularity among users by unlocking the power of the inter-portable network through pricing and availability. We are excited to be a part of the ‘Build for Bharat’ initiative which aims to foster innovation and address the diverse challenges within the digital commerce landscape. This pan-India initiative will bring together the best minds in the country who will fuel a surge of innovative ideas to shape the future of digital commerce in India.”

    Protean eGov Technologies MD & CEO Suresh Sethi said, “’Build for Bharat’ is a brilliant initiative to bring together students, startups and businesses to unlock Bharat’s technological and entrepreneurial capabilities. As pioneers in creating DPIs for the nation, we are delighted to be a part of this collective effort that helps us further our mission of enabling population scale digital, social and financial inclusion through technology.”

  • Publicis Worldwide onboards Nitin Sharma as senior vice president & head of client services

    Publicis Worldwide onboards Nitin Sharma as senior vice president & head of client services

    Mumbai: Publicis Worldwide India, part of the Publicis Groupe network in India, has strengthened its leadership team and announced the appointment of Nitin Sharma as senior vice president and head of client services. Nitin would be based out of Mumbai and report to Publicis Worldwide India managing director Oindrila Roy.

    An astute branding and marketing strategist, Nitin would manage some of the agency’s key brands while accelerating Publicis Worldwide’s upward growth and ambitions in the marketplace.

    In a career spanning over two decades, Nitin has worked across agencies, leading some marquee brands such as McDonald’s, Johnnie Walker, National Geographic, HDFC Life Insurance, IDFC First Bank, Bajaj Electricals, TBZ, Philips, Dabur, Yellow Pages, Kamasutra, and Elf Lubricants, among others.

    Before joining Publicis Worldwide, he spent over half a decade working overseas as a marketer, heading the marketing strategy for one of the Middle East’s most recognised financial services brands, UAE Exchange (now Unimoni). With his interest in modern marketing practises essential for business growth today and experience in handling large teams, Nitin brings with him the solidity and the balance required to help clients grow their business, both from a long-term perspective and by delivering day-to-day.

    Publicis Worldwide, India CEO Paritosh Srivastava said, “While we reinvent ourselves to cater to the evolving marketing landscape, it is imperative to have the sound backing of a team that will drive this momentum forward for us. Towards that goal, we are glad to have someone of the calibre of Nitin Sharma who comes on board with domain expertise that is rich and pragmatic. His strong ability to direct and lead brands to a reputable position in the marketplace while possessing qualitative and admirable leadership skills bodes well for our momentum in the long run.”

    On joining the agency, Nitin added, “I am super-stoked to be offered this role at Publicis Groupe, which has always been at the forefront of delivering truly integrated solutions which enable organisations to solve business problems and leverage emerging opportunities.”

    “I was particularly impressed with the unique integration model—’Power of One’—that strategically fuses creativity, data, and technology to help build compelling narratives, drive engagement, and create powerful experiences that deliver positive business outcomes. The Groupe’s name-bearer agency, Publicis Worldwide, has partnered with some of the finest brands in India. I’m privileged to work with Paritosh Srivastava and the leadership team in growing the agency’s strength and stature in the years to come,” he added.

  • Nitin Sharma joins Infectious Advertising as VP – business

    Nitin Sharma joins Infectious Advertising as VP – business

    NEW DELHI: Infectious Advertising has roped in Nitin Sharma as its vice president – business.

    At Infectious, Sharma will be responsible for leading important businesses for the agency. He will work closely with founding partner Nisha Singhania to not only consolidate existing businesses but also look at organic plus new business growth, the agency said in a press statement.

    Sharma joins from the UAE Exchange in Dubai where he was the director – marketing strategy. He has also had stints at agencies like Ambience, Ogilvy, DDB Mudra and Leo Burnett India. With close to two decades of work experience spanning across advertising and marketing, he has managed brands across the entire spectrum of categories for different agencies.

    "Today’s complex and dynamic marketing landscape demands a truly integrated, multi-dimensional approach to fully leverage the opportunities businesses have or solve for the problems they face. Our purpose here is not about creating fancy ads, but explore the unique calibrations of communication, technology and data to shape consumer behaviour and move businesses," Sharma said.

    Infectious Advertising founding partners Nisha Singhania and Ramanuj Shastry said, “Nitin brings with him experience of working on big brands across markets. We look forward to having him on board as we have a shared vision for the agency. We are sure Nitin will help in taking Infectious to the next level.”

  • 9X Media to live stream 3 channels via Lebara Play

    9X Media to live stream 3 channels via Lebara Play

    MUMBAI: Music network 9X Media has joined forces with new multi-ethnic entertainment service, Lebara Play, to live stream 9XM, 9X Jalwa and 9X Tashan.

     

    9X Media senior vice president – distribution Nitin Sharma said, “We are pleased to associate with Lebara and distribute our channels across countries and continents for the Indian diaspora. 9XM, 9X Jalwa and 9X Tashan have already gained immense popularity in India, and we are confident that the channels will resonate well with Lebara Play subscribers.”

     

    Lebara Play offers access to more than 150 television channels and over 3,000 popular movie titles for streaming on mobile, computer and tablet.

     

    Lebara Play CEO Aditya Thakur added, “Our partnership with 9X Media is great news for our customers and music fans in particular. The addition of 9XM, 9X Jalwa and 9X Tashan to our portfolio of channels will further boost the variety of entertainment options available to Lebara Play subscribers.”

  • ShopClues makes top talent acquisition for categories div

    ShopClues makes top talent acquisition for categories div

    MUMBAI: ShopClues has appointed Raunak Raheja and Nitin Sharma as category management directors.

     

    While Raheja’s focus at ShopClues will be on scaling up the wholesale marketplace initiative, Sharma will be helming the electronics category.

     

    Raheja will be overseeing the key properties of ShopClues including the neighbourhood store initiative and cross border trade. Heading the wholesale marketplace initiative, he will also be planning the strategic roadmap for B2B channels and driving the refurbished products supply.  

     

    ShopClues co-founder and chief business officer Radhika Aggarwal said, “At ShopClues, we are scaling up at a breakneck speed. Category management is a vital vertical for us during this phase of evolutionary growth. I’m pleased to welcome Raunak and Nitin on board at ShopClues. Both of them come with profound experience in e-commerce and category management and    we look forward to their valuable contributions to our growth gradient.”   

      

    Sharma is a telecom and IT sales professional with over 12 years of experience. He was previously HP India Sales country category manager for Ink Supplies. He has also been associated with other top businesses in the country including Nokia, Idea Cellular, Reliance Communications and Taj Group of Hotels.

     

    Raheja is an e-commerce and retail professional with over 9 years of work experience in marketplace & e-retailing models. He has diverse experience and has also worked with e-commerce companies like eBay, HomeShop18 and Ibibio Web.