Bombay Shaving Company appoints Varun Gupta as Senior VP – Growth

Bombay Shaving Company has appointed Varun Gupta of RP - Sanjiv Goenka Group as Senior Vice President – Growth.

Gupta was the founding member of ‘Too Yumm!’ and ‘The Gift Studio’ during his time at the RP - Sanjiv Goenka Group.

He led the launch network for Too Yumm! and has also enjoyed successful stints at Unilever and Pepsico.

"Varun brings a wonderful blend of technology understanding, customer centricity, entrepreneurial zeal and large business pedigree - qualities that will take Bombay Shaving Company into the future. Right through his career, he has demonstrated a remarkable ability to navigate complexity and uncertainty to shape sustainably profitable businesses, making him a truly valuable addition for us," Shantanu Deshpande, Founder & CEO, Bombay Shaving Company said.

On his appointment, Gupta said: "I'm really excited to join Shantanu, Deepak and the wonderful team which has built BSC into a brand that India loves. Direct to Consumer space gives an opportunity to engage with past and future audiences in ways that are richer and non-transactional. Online channels, on the other hand, address customers with immediate intent. With unconventional channels like Quick Commerce taking rapid strides, the opportunities are immense. I look forward to building on the great work done by the team across D2C and other channels; and make BSC’s big hairy vision of reaching 2 crore bathrooms (with 5 products per bathroom, creating 10 minutes of happiness) in the country, a reality."

Ramdas Baliga named MD, Toshiba Software India

Toshiba Software India has appointed Ramdas Baliga as its new Managing Director.

Baliga succeeds Takashi Ishikawa who was at the helm of Toshiba Software India Pvt. Ltd. for four years.

Welcoming Baliga to his new role, Ishikawa stated “It has been a great pleasure to serve as the MD of TSIP. During my tenure, I established the slogan “Across & Beyond” to further enhance the value of TSIP. I am proud that, with this slogan, TSIP has accelerated its shift from ODC (Offshore Development Centre) to CoE (Centre of Excellence), even during the difficult period of pandemic. I am happy to pass on the baton to Mr. Ramdas Baliga, who has been leading a wide area of business with various technology domains in TSIP. I believe Mr. Baliga will lead TSIP to greater heights.”

Commenting on his appointment, Baliga said, “Toshiba Software India is an intrinsic part of the Toshiba Group’s digital and software transformation worldwide. As the world shifts towards digital transformation at an accelerated pace, we aim to empower digital agility across and beyond Toshiba, evolving TSIP into a Digitally Agile Centre of Excellence. TSIP’s deliveries tie very well into Toshiba’s goal of applying Digital Technologies across Physical systems, where Toshiba is already a world leader, thereby realizing leadership in Cyber Physical Systems. Grounded in the Group’s commitment of “Committed to People, Committed to the Future.”, TSIP’s expertise covers a wide range of high-technology domains including energy and infrastructure systems, smart card systems, battery management systems, solid-state memories & hard-disk storage, System-on-Chip (SoC), automotive, Multi-Function Peripheral (MFP), Point-of-Sale (PoS), bar-code systems and medical systems. We are building a robust team of engineers who will acquire and expand their skillset working on advanced Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics, Machine Learning, Computer Vision and IoT Cloud technologies etc.”

Baliga joined TSIP in 2003. During his over 18 years of association with the company, he has held various leadership roles and positions, and played an instrumental role in designing and developing IT technologies and solutions for Toshiba Group companies in India and overseas.

Pepperfry appoints Anand Batra as Chief Financial Officer

Pepperfry, the ecommerce furniture and home goods company, today announced the appointment of Anand Batra as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO). This is Anand’s second stint with Pepperfry, his first being a five-year stint during the early days of Pepperfry’s inception. In his role as CFO, Anand will spearhead the organization’s corporate strategy, fundraising efforts, financial operations, legal and secretarial functions. His appointment is effective immediately and he will be based at the Pepperfry corporate office in Mumbai.

Anand is a seasoned finance professional with more than a decade of experience in venture capital, business management, financial planning and operations, fundraising, strategy, and investment banking.

Prior to joining Pepperfry, Anand worked as Executive Director at Z3Partners, a leading tech and digital Fund, where he was involved with the Fund’s investments in Dealshare, Shipsy, Gramophone and Cyfirma. Prior to joining Z3Partners, Anand was a principal in the investing team at IvyCap Ventures, focusing on early stage investments in India consumer and technology enabled businesses.

Before starting his career as an investor, Anand headed up Category Management for the Home Goods business at Pepperfry. During this stint, Anand transformed the home business unit economics, while maintaining high levels of customer experience. Prior to this, Anand headed up the Financial Planning and Strategy function at Pepperfry, where he led fundraising efforts, apart from helping shape the Company’s omni-channel strategy and launching business categories.

Anand started his career as an investment banker at Lazard and Avendus Capital in India. Anand is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Narsee Monjee College, Mumbai.

Ambareesh Murty, Co-Founder & CEO, Pepperfry said, “We are thrilled to welcome Anand back home. His contributions during Pepperfry’s formative years were invaluable and had helped steer our business through several transformational changes. I am a fan of his wide world view and look forward to working with him to chart Pepperfry’s future through India’s rapidly evolving digital and retail landscape.”

“It gives me great delight to rejoin the Pepperfry family. The company is a differentiated brand in the ecommerce space and has undisputedly built a community-based platform defining home and living. In its decade long journey, Pepperfry has shown all the makings of a strong consumer brand. I look forward to working closely with the team to drive the next phase of growth.” said Anand Batra, Chief Financial Officer, Pepperfry.

Snehil Dixit Mehra named Head of Content & Digital Media at ALTBalaji

Snehil Dixit Mehra has joined ALT Digital Media Entertainment Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Balaji Telefilms Ltd., as Head of Content and Digital Media.

Earlier Mehra worked with filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali as Associate Director.
 
Mehra has worked as Writer, Director and Digital Influencer. 

She brings with her an enviable experience in the media and entertainment space over 16 years of experience in the broadcast industry she has held various leadership positions at Bhansali Productions, Star India, Sony Entertainment Television & Endemol India.

In her new role, Mehra will be leading the content and programming division for ALTBalaji and will be responsible for managing the upcoming original content line-up and the platform's creative strategy.
 
Talking about joining the team, she says, “This is my second innings at ALTBalaji, a homecoming for me, however with a larger mandate now. I am looking forward to planning a roadmap for further accelerated growth of ALTBalaji as a leading digital content hub.”