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Tag: Operational Efficiency

  • Ongrid taps Manav Jain as chief business officer to energise growth engine

    Ongrid taps Manav Jain as chief business officer to energise growth engine

    MUMBAI: In a strategic move to supercharge its growth ambitions, Ongrid appointed industry veteran Manav Jain as chief business officer on 22 April 2025. With a sparkling résumé spanning SaaS, fintech, IT, and manufacturing, Jain is set to inject fresh momentum into the company’s operations and customer success initiatives.

    Jain brings over 20 years of heavyweight experience from notable stints at Loconav, Paytm, Microsoft, and the Murugappa Group, alongside his entrepreneurial forays as co-founder of hiring-tech startups UniHyr and Hyrr. A distinguished alumnus of XLRI (2004) and the Asian Institute of Management, Manila (2010), Jain is known for his laser-sharp business acumen combined with a pragmatic approach to human resources and technology.

    At Ongrid, Jain will anchor critical functions including revenue growth strategies, technological innovation, human resources, finance, legal compliance, and administrative excellence. His appointment marks a pivotal moment as Ongrid sharpens its competitive edge amid dynamic market shifts.

    “We are thrilled to welcome Manav Jain to Ongrid. His deep understanding of business operations, technology, and HR will be invaluable as we continue to scale and innovate. Manav’s leadership will be instrumental in strengthening our customer relationships and driving operational excellence across the organisation,” commented Ongrid co-founder & CEO Piyush Peshwani.

    Sharing his enthusiasm about the new role, Jain remarked, “What interested me about Ongrid was the clarity of its mission, the relevance of the problems it’s solving, and the opportunity to work on real, operational challenges across industries. I’m looking forward to contributing to a business that is structured, execution-focused, and solving real-world problems in trust and compliance.”

    With Jain steering the wheel, Ongrid clearly signals its readiness to accelerate business growth, build robust operational frameworks, and deliver precise, tangible solutions to industry-wide compliance and trust issues.

  • Pocket FM’s Rs 1,000 crore revenue milestone: Growth soars 500 per cent YoY

    Pocket FM’s Rs 1,000 crore revenue milestone: Growth soars 500 per cent YoY

    Mumbai: Imagine a world where your favorite stories come alive—not on screens, but in your ears, whispering adventures and drama as you multitask through life. When binge-watching wasn’t an option, Pocket FM became your storytelling savior, transforming mundane chores and long commutes into thrilling escapades. Today, the platform that brought you gripping audio series at the tap of a finger is basking in the spotlight, shattering records with its meteoric rise.

    In an extraordinary leap, Pocket FM has surged past the Rs 1,000 crore revenue milestone in FY 2024, marking an awe-inspiring 496 per cent year-on-year growth from Rs 176.36 crore in FY 2023. This groundbreaking success cements the company’s status as a trailblazer, combining innovative storytelling, microtransactions, and global ambition to rewrite the rules of entertainment. As it inches closer to profitability, Pocket FM’s journey serves as an inspiring masterclass in turning sound waves into success stories.

    Pocket FM reported a global revenue of Rs 1,051.97 crore, bolstered by significant growth in subscription and advertising revenue. This rapid expansion comes alongside a 21 per cent reduction in global losses, from Rs 208 crore in FY 2023 to Rs 165 crore in FY 2024, highlighting its strategic push towards operational efficiency.

    Financial highlights: A year of remarkable transformation

    Subscription Revenue Growth:
    The platform’s subscription revenue skyrocketed, increasing nearly sixfold from Rs 160.05 crore in FY 2023 to Rs 934.73 crore in FY 2024. This growth reflects the platform’s ability to build a thriving community of paid users, largely driven by its innovative microtransaction model.

    Advertising Revenue Expansion:
    Advertising revenue increased over seven times, from Rs 12.5 crore to Rs 89.34 crore, underscoring the platform’s growing attractiveness for advertisers.

    Enhanced Operational Efficiency:
    Pocket FM’s expense-to-earnings ratio improved significantly, from 2.18 in FY 2023 to 1.16 in FY 2024, illustrating the company’s disciplined approach to cost optimisation.

    Loss Reduction:
    Losses decreased by Rs 43 crore, down from Rs 208 crore in FY 2023 to Rs 165 crore in FY 2024, reinforcing the company’s commitment to profitability.

    Pocket FM

    Pocket FM has reshaped entertainment through its serialised audio storytelling model. Over 30 audio series have each surpassed the Rs 10 crore revenue milestone, with seven series crossing Rs 100 crore—a testament to the platform’s robust content pipeline. Additionally, the platform leveraged artificial intelligence (AI) to produce over 40,000 audio series, contributing Rs 25 crore to its revenue.

    With over 100 billion minutes of streaming powered by its 200-million-strong listener community, the platform has also recorded 45 million transactions through its microtransactions model.

    While India remains a core market, Pocket FM is making aggressive strides in global markets like the United States, Europe, and Latin America. The company’s investments in localised content, advanced technology, and strategic user acquisition have bolstered its international footprint, positioning it as a global leader in entertainment innovation.

    “This growth reflects our relentless efforts to redefine the entertainment landscape. With a sharp focus on leveraging AI, we are not only enhancing operational efficiency but also creating smarter processes that optimise content delivery and monetisation. Our vision remains clear: to establish Pocket FM as a global entertainment platform that consistently pushes the boundaries of content experiences.” said Pocket FM, CFO, Anurag Sharma.

    Anurag sharma

    Pocket FM’s success is an inspiring example of a tech-driven company prioritising scalability while staying on the path to profitability. As it continues to redefine the entertainment landscape, the company’s disciplined growth strategy, innovative storytelling approach, and global ambitions place it on an upward trajectory in the ever-evolving world of digital content.

  • Majority of Indian business houses dependent on IT

    Majority of Indian business houses dependent on IT

    NEW DELHI: The VMware Cloud Index 2013 reveals that Information Technology is seen as a change enabler and source of business value for organisations by 85 percent of the respondents.

     

    Indian organisations are turning to IT to help them grow their business in the current economic environment, VMware said.

     

    Fast provisioning and zero downtime from networks (80 percent) and storage (81 percent) have been identified as key areas for IT to address over the next 12 months in the study. A total of 65 per cent claim will have a formal strategy in place for supporting end user computing, clearly showing that Indian businesses are acting to cater to the needs of the new age worker.

     

    The study reveals that nearly nine of every 10 per cent respondents in India believe that Cloud Computing or ‘as-a-service’ approach is relevant to their organisation.

     

    Nearly eight of every 10 respondents in India say they currently have a cloud-related initiative in place within the organisation or are planning to implement cloud, or ‘as-a-service’ approach, in the next 12 months.

     

    In terms of the top business priorities in India over the next 12 months, 87 per cent of IT decision makers said improving the quality and capabilities of their products and 85 per cent said addressing the rising expectations of customers and improving customer satisfaction.

     

    The current perception of IT remains positive in India with 63 per cent of respondents noting that the perceived credibility, influence and power of the CIO in their organisation is increasing.

     

    Business priorities are clearly shifting at a time when optimism is slowly returning to the Indian economy.

     

    In terms of priorities for IT over the next 12 months, improving IT agility and responsiveness to business demands was high at 82 per cent and operational efficiency was noted by 80 percent of respondents.

     

    Additionally, server consolidation via virtualisation continues to be a strong priority at 77 per cent.

     

    Respondents in India are also aware of and are planning new and evolutionary priorities.

    A software-defined approach to implementing and managing data center resources (servers, storage, networks) was stated by 71 percent of respondents. Furthermore, mobility and consumerisation of IT was also noted by 71 per cent as expected to create a lasting impact for organisations over the next two to three years.

     

    While 71 per cent of IT decision makers are concerned about end users accessing corporate systems and applications from mobile devices, 73 per cent believe that their IT organisation are able to keep up with the end user computing needs of their employees.