ITV

Tag: operations

  • LEAD announces Anupam Gurani & Manoj Naik elevation at a leadership role

    LEAD announces Anupam Gurani & Manoj Naik elevation at a leadership role

    Mumbai: Homegrown school edtech unicorn, LEAD, has elevated Anupam Gurani to chief business & marketing officer and Manoj Naik to chief finance & operations officer.  In their new positions, Gurani and Naik will further strengthen LEAD’s proposition as an integrated school edtech solutions provider with expertise in operations, classroom management, curriculum, and pedagogy.

    In addition to his marketing responsibilities, Gurani will now also drive customer success and revenue generation at LEAD, with a focus on continually delivering great results for all school stakeholders, and Naik will also lead supply chain and procurement excellence, in addition to leading financial operations at edtech.

    LEAD co-founder and CEO Sumeet Mehta said, “Gurani and Naik are leading our mission of bringing excellent education to every child. With their deep expertise and experience, I am sure they’ll continue to contribute to the lead in their elevated roles.” 

    “The opportunity to build on our current momentum for growth and student confidence-building through school edtech is tremendous, and I am excited to take on this new role. I look forward to working with our teams to drive further success for LEAD as we continue to make excellent learning accessible and affordable for students across India,” said Anupam Gurani. An accomplished sales, marketing, and strategy professional with over 18 years of experience, Gurani has previously led teams in leading multinational organisations across India and Southeast Asia, including Disney+, Hotstar, Vodafone, Google, and Reckitt.

    “I am thrilled to be a part of LEAD at this important juncture in its journey of impact and growth. As we continue to shape the future of learning outcomes in India’s schools, I am excited about the opportunity to strengthen operational excellence with an incredible, values-driven team,” added Manoj Naik. With over 30 years of experience, Naik has led finance, commercial and technology operations in leading companies such as GE Capital, ManipalCigna Health Insurance and Fullerton Securities, among others across India and the UAE.

  • Manoj Jagyasi and the promise of Bharat24

    Manoj Jagyasi and the promise of Bharat24

    MUMBAI: Referred to as the turnaround man amongst kith and kin, Manoj Jagyasi was recently appointed as a chief business officer & strategic advisor to the board of month-old Hindi news channel Bharat 24. His remit: all aspects of the broadcast business (revenue management, marketing research, operations, and content co-creation) and advising the board on future expansion.

    His last sojourn was with Zee Media where he was chief revenue officer for around two years, and previously as an executive cluster head for a year. A professional with an experience of more than two decades in the industry, he has also had stints with ETV Network, ITV Network and Network 18 Media as associate vice president – revenue head for almost nine years. Jagyasi has also worked with Unilever and Red FM 93.5, in the past.

    What could have been the rationale behind launching on 15 August in an already crowded Hindi news market with a finite ad pie?

    “When most national news channels are focussing more on the NCR / UP market, we saw the opportunity for a truly national news channel. No matter how cluttered the market is, there is always room for the right product and with the right revenue strategy and the right talent, there is always scope for monetization. The TV business has been witnessing continuous growth and we intend to follow the same trajectory,” explains Jagyasi.

    With the understanding that to be a truly national news channel, the team would have to think big, in every way, including investments and people. A state-of-the-art studio with all the latest shiny tech spread over a 20,000 sq ft area in Noida serves as the hub from which both young and seasoned anchors beam out news and views day-in-day-out. An army of 4,000 reporters nationally beat the streets scouting for developments. Jagyasi says the goal is to expand this even more and have a reporter in every constituency.

    A slew of digital platforms, including a brand-new website and social media platforms, complete the initial debut offering for viewers of Bharat24.

    “News and information come naturally to us. With our network strength, we are delivering over 1000 original significant news stories from across the nation. We are also the first national news channel to launch with augmented-reality-enabled studios to deliver clean, clutter-free enhanced audio-visual content on-air,” expounds Jagyasi.

    The focus, since flag-off, has been on public interest stories like the impact of the increased rate of interest on FD’s or an awareness campaign on sharing a person’s location and other personal information through mobile apps. “Such stories which have a direct impact on viewers are regularly showcased on the channel,” he narrates.

    A high-impact marketing campaign and distribution drive has resulted in Bharat24 being available on most DTH platforms like Tata Play, Airtel DTH, Dish and several other large MSOs nationally. The messaging across all B2C and B2B touchpoints in key markets have been “Jahan Tak Bharat, Wahan Tak Bharat24” with the Bharat24 tagline being “A vision of New India.”

    ”It was important for us to be present across all key DTH and MSOs so that the discerning Hindi news viewers have the opportunity to sample a new news channel which resonates with their evolving needs. We are also focussed on connected TV and online platforms such as Jio,” he discloses.

    While Jigyasi and the team are happy about what has been achieved so far, he is loath to go into further details. “It is still early to gain the overall feedback for a news channel that is just over a month old, but it is exciting and assuring to witness the buzz and excitement among viewers,” he postulates.

    But he is quite sanguine that things can only get better from here on thanks to the right blend of young and experienced passionate professionals who have been recruited for the sales and revenue teams.

    “They understand the TV news business not only from the revenue point of view but also has a perspective on news content. We are confident in offering a wide range of customized media solutions catering to the evolving market demands. We remain focused on the growth of our TV and digital ventures and are committed to adding value to the clients who choose to advertise with us,” he highlights.

    Advertisers and media agencies are listening to his pitch and have given the thumbs-up to Bharat24. Within 24 days of its launch, over 24 clients had signed up. And within a month Bharat 24’s roster boasts more than 35 advertising clients.

    More are expected to board the channel’s bus, Jagyasi says, with a few big, customized deals being worked on with clients from Delhi and Mumbai.

    “We are already witnessing a huge interest for the upcoming festive season and assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. The channel is also working on various big-ticket IP’s that will be announced soon enough,” he discloses.

    Clearly, Jagyasi and team Bharat24 have begun their journey into the TV news race well. How they do over the next stretch of the track, will determine whether Bharat24 really lives up to its promise.  

  • Pickrr brings in Vineet Budhiraja as SVP – operations

    Pickrr brings in Vineet Budhiraja as SVP – operations

    Mumbai: Pickrr, a SaaS-based logistics start-up has announced the appointment of Vineet Budhiraja as senior vice president, operations. 

    In this role, Budhiraja will supervise the company’s overall operations, curate growth-centric strategies for client onboarding, maintain customer success, and drive the force for the company’s holistic growth, said the statement.

    With over 13 years of robust experience in the industry, Budhiraja comes with in-depth expertise in operations, product management, and customer experience. He has amassed knowledge of the logistics sector, e-commerce, B2B & D2C marketplace.

    “Vineet joins us at a time when Pickrr has already set foot on the growth accelerator, and with his help, we believe Pickrr will achieve more significant milestones and solve more problems for sellers in the D2C industry,” said Pickrr co-founder and CEO Gaurav Mangla.

    Budhiraja holds an MBA from the prestigious SJMSOM- IIT Bombay and a B-Tech degree from NIT Kurukshetra. With the experience of working with top industry players, he has a clear outlook on the role of tech-driven logistics and innovative operation strategies. Prior to joining Pickrr, he was the SVP of Lime Road and has also worked with Snapdeal and Amazon.

    “Joining a team of like-minded people committed to innovation is an excellent opportunity for me to keep growing,” said Vineet Budhiraja. “I hope to add significant value to Pickrr’s inspiring journey towards revolutionising the tech-driven logistic sector by up-scaling the company operations.”

  • Dream11 halts operations in Karnataka after FIR against founders

    Dream11 halts operations in Karnataka after FIR against founders

    Mumbai: Online sports platform Dream11 has suspended Karnataka operations of its gaming app Dream11 after its directors were booked under the amended Karnataka Police Act, which seeks to ban online gaming. 

    Following the filing of a first information report (FIR) against its founders in Bengaluru under the state’s newly legislated Karnataka Police (Amendment) Act 2021, the homegrown sports tech company said in a statement on Sunday, “Following the recent media coverage, our Karnataka users have expressed deep concerns and anxiety for their safety and security. In order to allay our users’ concerns, we have decided to suspend operations in Karnataka.”

    The Karnataka Police Act recently amended its gaming law to prohibit online gambling, betting, and wagering. On Saturday, the Bengaluru Police filed an FIR against Dream11 founders Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth subsequent to a complaint that the Mumbai-based firm had continued to offer gaming services on its platform a week after the state government notified the new rules disallowing what it termed as “games of chance.”

    Dream11 said that the complaint was “motivated” and it is examining legal remedies. 

    With this, the online gaming platform has joined the likes of Mobile Premier League (MPL), Paytm First Games, Games24X7, and others, which have deactivated their platform for users in Karnataka.

    Dream11, however, continues to maintain that it is compliant with all the laws. “We have been advised by the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS), who have shared an opinion from a former Supreme Court Judge, stating that the Karnataka Police (Amendment) Act 2021 does not apply to its member Fantasy Sports Operators. This is because the FIFS format of fantasy sports has been upheld by the honourble courts of India as not amounting to gambling, betting, or wagering,” said the company in a statement.

    Karnataka’s new law, which came into effect on 5 October, bans online games that are “games of chance” in nature. It makes operation, abetting, or sheltering of online games involving the exchange of money, betting, and wagering “cognisable and non-bailable offence.”

    The move comes at a time when the Indian Premier League (IPL) is underway and the T20 Cricket World Cup is slated to start later this month. These sporting events are crucial for the gaming platforms to drive engagement and acquire new users in what’s a competitive industry.

    The Dream11 platform allows users to play fantasy cricket, hockey, football, kabaddi, and basketball on its app. The firm became the first Indian gaming company to enter the unicorn club in April 2019 after an investment took its valuation at over $ one billion.

  • BYJU’S appoints Puneet Bhirani as senior VP, operations

    BYJU’S appoints Puneet Bhirani as senior VP, operations

    Mumbai: Edtech company BYJU’S on Monday announced the appointment of Puneet Bhirani as senior vice president – operations.

    In his role, Bhirani will oversee the company’s overall operations strategy as well as build strong and innovative technological support to scale the business. He will strengthen internal capacity as per the strategic objectives, said the company in a statement.

    “Puneet brings in a wealth of experience coupled with a deep understanding of business operations. We believe his joining will be a great value addition to the team and look forward to supporting him along the way,” said BYJU’S chief people officer Pravin Prakash.

    Before joining BYJU’S, Bhirani was associated with Ola Fleet as CEO and group COO at Ola across mobility, foods, and Ola electric. A CXO with over 24 years of cross-cultural experience across India, the UK, and the US, he brings on board his expertise in business transformation, new business setup & expansion, business development & cost/resource optimisation across various domains.

    “I am extremely excited to be a part of the team that’s redefining the online learning space and making quality education accessible to all students,” said Bhirani. “BYJU’S has displayed disruptive growth over the past 1.5 years, and I am looking forward to becoming an integral part of the brand’s upheaval and introducing new practices to continue the seamless momentum of existing processes.”  

  • Samiran Chatterjee joins JK Tech as VP, operations

    Samiran Chatterjee joins JK Tech as VP, operations

    Mumbai: TEOCO’s former global head of recruitment and resource management, Samiran Chatterjee, has joined the JK Tech team to head its operations. In his new role, Chatterjee will be responsible for sales operations, revenue, and resource management. 

    Chatterjee brings with him over 33 years of experience across industries, of which 20+ years are in the IT industry.

    Welcoming Chatterjee on board, JK Tech, president and CEO, Aloke Paskar said, “Samiran comes with vast industry knowledge and will definitely be an addition to the strong foundation that will accelerate the growth of JK Tech. With more than three decades of experience, he will be able to guide JK Tech along with the rest of the leaders, through this crucial transformational phase.”

    Chatterjee was previously associated with Microland, Capgemini, Mphasis, iGate among others in his earlier professional assignments. He helmed various roles across functions like learning & development, business operations & recruitment, and capacity planning & management.

    Talking about his new assingment, Chatterjee said, “I am truly delighted having joined this vibrant and enthusiastic team at JK Tech. Through my role, I look forward to the opportunity, be part of the team that steers JK Tech to its full potential and to achieve operational efficiency.”

  • Mamaearth onboards Avinash Dhagat as VP- Operations

    Mamaearth onboards Avinash Dhagat as VP- Operations

    Mumbai: FMCG brand Mamaearth has appointed Avinash Dhagat as vice president, operations. In his new role, he will be leading the operations and supply chain for the brand.

    Dhagat is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of experience across automotive and FMCG sectors, most recently as head of supply chain at Loreal India’s consumer division. Over the years he has gained in depth understanding of Demand & Supply Planning, Inventory Management & Customer Service, in India and GCC markets. After graduating from NIT, Warangal, he pursued his master’s in supply chain and Logistics. With his pragmatic approach, he has been instrumental in making supply chain processes coherent and orderly, said the company on Tuesday.

    Talking about his new role, Dhagat said, “Mamaearth has displayed disruptive growth over the last four years and has displayed exceptional abilities in managing supply chain processes with scale up. It is extremely exciting to be a part of a brand which is on the upheaval, both on how to keep pace with the scale up and introducing newer practices to make the processes even more efficient in this journey. I look forward to working with the fastest growing brand in India and becoming a part of every household in the years to come.”

    Mamaearth co-founder and CEO Varun Alagh said, “I am delighted to welcome Avinash as vice president, operations. Avinash’s experience combined with his commercial and planning expertise over the last decade in FMCG, will help make Mamaearth supply chain processes more systematic and streamlined. We wish him great success in his new role.”

    Dhagat will be based out of the Gurgaon office. The appointment comes on the heels of other critical and strategic additions to the leadership team of Mamaearth. 

  • Q3-2016: Shemaroo reports 16% growth in revenue, PAT up 27%

    Q3-2016: Shemaroo reports 16% growth in revenue, PAT up 27%

    BENGALURU: Indian integrated media content house Shemaroo Entertainment Limited (Shemaroo) reported 15.7 per cent higher YoY consolidated Total Income from Operations (TIO) for the quarter ended 31 December, 2015 (Q3-2016, current quarter) at Rs 101 crore as compared to the Rs 87.28 crore in Q3-2015 and eight per cent more than the Rs 93.53 crore in Q2-2016.

    Note: (1) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore

    (2) All numbers are consolidated unless stated otherwise.

    Shemaroo’s consolidated PAT for the current quarter improved 27.9 per cent YoY to Rs 12.82 crore (12.7 per cent margin) as compared to the Rs 10.02 crore (11.5 per cent margin) and was 14.5 per cent more as compared to the Rs 11.20 crore (12 per cent margin) in Q2-2016.

    Shemaroo’s EBIDTA including other income at Rs 26.92 crore (26.7 per cent margin) increased 32.9 per cent YoY as compared to the Rs 20.26 crore (14.9 per cent margin) and increased 11 per cent QoQ from Rs 24.25 crore (25.9 per cent margin).

    The company’s Total Expenditure (TE) in Q3-2016 at Rs 75.32 crore (74.6 per cent of TIO) was 10 per cent more YOY than the Rs 68.50 crore (78.5 per cent of TIO) and was 6.3 per cent more QoQ than Rs 70.86 crore (75.7 per cent of TIO).

    The company’s cost of Raw Materials consumed decreased 60 per cent in Q3-2016 to Rs 54.39 crore (53.9 per cent of TIO) as compared to Rs 135.93 crore (155.7 per cent of TIO) and decreased 52.1 per cent QoQ as compared to Rs 113.58 crore (121.3 per cent of TIO).

    Employee Benefit Expense (EBE) in Q3-2015 increased 5.2 per cent YoY to Rs 5.48 crore (5.4 per cent of TIO) as compared to Rs 5.21 crore (3.8 per cent of TIO) and declined 8.8 per cent QoQ as compared to Rs 6.01 crore (6.4 per cent of TIO).

    Basic and undiluted EPS (not annualised) for Q3-2016 was Rs 4.72 , for Q2-2016 it was Rs Rs 4.12; in Q3-2015 EPS was Rs 4.60.

  • Q3-2016: Shemaroo reports 16% growth in revenue, PAT up 27%

    Q3-2016: Shemaroo reports 16% growth in revenue, PAT up 27%

    BENGALURU: Indian integrated media content house Shemaroo Entertainment Limited (Shemaroo) reported 15.7 per cent higher YoY consolidated Total Income from Operations (TIO) for the quarter ended 31 December, 2015 (Q3-2016, current quarter) at Rs 101 crore as compared to the Rs 87.28 crore in Q3-2015 and eight per cent more than the Rs 93.53 crore in Q2-2016.

    Note: (1) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore

    (2) All numbers are consolidated unless stated otherwise.

    Shemaroo’s consolidated PAT for the current quarter improved 27.9 per cent YoY to Rs 12.82 crore (12.7 per cent margin) as compared to the Rs 10.02 crore (11.5 per cent margin) and was 14.5 per cent more as compared to the Rs 11.20 crore (12 per cent margin) in Q2-2016.

    Shemaroo’s EBIDTA including other income at Rs 26.92 crore (26.7 per cent margin) increased 32.9 per cent YoY as compared to the Rs 20.26 crore (14.9 per cent margin) and increased 11 per cent QoQ from Rs 24.25 crore (25.9 per cent margin).

    The company’s Total Expenditure (TE) in Q3-2016 at Rs 75.32 crore (74.6 per cent of TIO) was 10 per cent more YOY than the Rs 68.50 crore (78.5 per cent of TIO) and was 6.3 per cent more QoQ than Rs 70.86 crore (75.7 per cent of TIO).

    The company’s cost of Raw Materials consumed decreased 60 per cent in Q3-2016 to Rs 54.39 crore (53.9 per cent of TIO) as compared to Rs 135.93 crore (155.7 per cent of TIO) and decreased 52.1 per cent QoQ as compared to Rs 113.58 crore (121.3 per cent of TIO).

    Employee Benefit Expense (EBE) in Q3-2015 increased 5.2 per cent YoY to Rs 5.48 crore (5.4 per cent of TIO) as compared to Rs 5.21 crore (3.8 per cent of TIO) and declined 8.8 per cent QoQ as compared to Rs 6.01 crore (6.4 per cent of TIO).

    Basic and undiluted EPS (not annualised) for Q3-2016 was Rs 4.72 , for Q2-2016 it was Rs Rs 4.12; in Q3-2015 EPS was Rs 4.60.

  • Aegis Media India launches Carat Fresh Rural

    Aegis Media India launches Carat Fresh Rural

    MUMBAI: Aegis Media India has launched Carat Fresh Rural, a professionally run, international rural communications agency. Carat Fresh Rural, the rural division of Carat Fresh Integrated, will provide comprehensive rural marketing and communication solutions to clients, which include rural planning, implementing outreach campaigns in rural areas, route planning, monitoring, van operations, haat and mandi contact programs, wall paintings, melas and any other marketing communication activities that may be required in small towns and villages.

    Interestingly, it has already bagged assignments from clients like Mahindra & Mahindra, Godrej Consumer Products, Escorts, Godrej, GPI, SONY MAX, Pidilite, Force Motors, Bayer Crop Science, and others. Carat Fresh Rural will be starting with a team of 30 rural marketers and a network of 1500 operators, across seven offices and 20 operation bases, led by the famous rural expert, Keshav Chandorkar, who will report to Carat Fresh Integrated head, Ravi Shankar.

    Before launching, they have already carried out activities in over 18000 villages across 21 states.

    “Rural Marketing Communications is the holy grail that no agency has successfully cracked in India, thus far. I believe that there is a universe at least equal to the size of the entire advertising industry available to agencies to explore in the rural marketing communications field. Carat Fresh Rural will, in many ways, pioneer that.  We are developing, for the first time in India, state-of-the-art rural management tools.  The Carat Fresh suite of Rural Tools will have the country’s only real time Rural Planning Tool, enabled by 3G connectivity and linked to a host of data sources including the rich census data, media data and 16 other sources of data. Since implementation in rural is key, every one of the Carat Fresh Rural operators will have an App on their GPS enabled trackers that will automatically monitor and relay data without human intervention. Several Tools and Apps are being developed to revolutionize rural communications in India” said, chairman India & CEO South East Asia Ashish Bhasin.

    Carat Fresh Rural aims to have a network of 10,000 people and 100 rural experts, across  26 states, by mid-2015. By 2015 Carat Fresh Rural expects to have covered over 100,000 villages throughout India.  In the second phase of expansion, which will span from 2016 t0 2018, it is anticipated that the network will grow to 20000 people, employees to 200+ and over 200,000 villages would have been covered.