Hires & Promotions: iQOO, Practus, Byju's, Kilowatt

iQOO India Appoints Nipun Marya as Chief Executive Officer

iQOO has named Nipun Marya as Chief Executive Officer for iQOO India. Nipun will be responsible for driving the growth of iQOO brand and its operations in India as it focuses on growing its market share to cement its position in the premium performance smartphone segment.

For the last 5 years, Nipun has served as Director, Brand Strategy for vivo India and will now be taking this new role to head iQOO India as the CEO. Bringing exceptional performance and revolutionary power, iQOO, the high-performance smartphone brand has received a phenomenal response from Indian consumers in the last two years. It has witnessed a staggering growth of 671% in Q3’21 vis-à-vis Q2’21. iQOO aims to double its online market share in the mid-premium space from 5% to 10% in India by 2022.

Congratulating Nipun on this new role, Jerome Chen, CEO, vivo India said, “Nipun has successfully led vivo’ s expansion and brand evolution in the India market. His deep understanding and consistent focus on consumer understanding have helped vivo grow its brand strength and preference over the years. We are delighted to see him assume charge as iQOO’s CEO and are confident he will play a pivotal role in cementing the brand’s position within the India market.”

Expressing his excitement, Nipun Marya, CEO, iQOO India said, “iQOO India is at an exciting juncture right now. Today, its success is evident as a premium high-performance brand that has seen enthusiastic acceptance amongst young buyers. Our smartphones like iQOO 7, Z5 and Z3 have been the highest rated smartphones in their respective segments on Amazon. This inspires us to further strengthen our ambitions to bring a bold line of breakthrough innovations in future products. I am looking forward to driving this next phase of growth for the brand and double the online market share in the mid-premium segment from 5% to 10% by 2022.”

As a brand, iQOO wants people to explore their passions and focus on being the best version of themselves. Aligned with the brand philosophy of ‘I Quest On and On’, iQOO as a brand aims to bring the joy of adventure to users through technology by delivering unmatched performance and unique experiences to Indian consumers. In line with our philosophy, we create smartphones with limitless speed and unremitting performance, that empower our consumers to pursue their passions.

Continuing iQOO’s commitment to ‘Make in India’, all iQOO smartphones are manufactured at vivo’s Greater Noida facility. Also, to offer hassle-free after-sales service experience to its valued customers, iQOO uses 600+ vivo service centres across the country for all after-sale services.

Anand Bhadkamkar joins Practus

Practus, a Business Transformation Solutions company, has reportedly roped in former Dentsu Aegis Network India CEO Anand Bhadkamkar as Industry Leader - Media, Entertainment & Integration Specialist.

According to media reports, Bhadkamkar will work to strengthen the Media and Entertainment Industry practice. He will also focus on Post Merger Integration.

On the appointment, media reports quoted Practus Founder and CEO Deepak Narayanan saying, "Media and Entertainment being a focus sector for Practice and with a sustained increase in M & A activity, Anand's hands-on experience will add tremendous value to our clients by focusing on Practus' core principles of delivering tangible ROI."

Bhadkamkar reportedly said, "What excited me the most about Practus was how the organization is partnering with its clients on their journey to achieve their business goals while focusing on technology-led solutions to deliver higher impact and ROI. The entrepreneurial culture at Practus, with a talented and passionate team, is just the right mix, and I look forward to working together to build capabilities in Media & Entertainment space and Post-Merger Integration."

He quit dentsu in August.

Byju’s appoints Rachna Bahadur to lead the global expansion

Byju’s has appointed Rachna Bahadur as the Senior Vice President to lead its global expansion plans.

“In her new role, Bahadur will lead the overall planning,  strategy, and roadmap for Byju’s expansion in new and existing markets. This appointment is a step towards strengthening BYJU’S leadership across verticals as the company aims to further build world-class products, teams, and partnerships. In addition to designing BYJU’S next growth phase, creating new partnerships, reinforcing sales, and solidifying the company's market positioning across the globe, Rachna will also be responsible for strengthening the footprint of BYJU’S recent acquisition of EPIC in the US market,” the company said.

Pravin Prakash, Chief People Officer, Byju’s said, “As we continue to evolve and diversify our business across the globe, we are focusing on bringing the best talent in the industry to further drive our mission of creating a community of lifelong learners. Rachna is a leader with a proven track record. Her extensive knowledge, depth of experience, and core background in consumer product practice will prove a key asset to us. She will play a vital role in charting a high impact and high growth network for BYJU’S,  and we are pleased to welcome her on board and look forward to supporting her in this journey.”

As Byju’s enters the next phase of growth in its continuous mission of helping children fall in love with learning, the company is further enhancing its leadership to drive excellence, globally.  As a purpose-driven, student-centric organisation, BYJU'S is committed to building world-class learning experiences, driven by a unified passion and exceptional teams to impact how millions of children learn.

Commenting on her appointment, Rachna Bahadur, Senior VP, Global Expansion, BYJU’S said, “For a decade, BYJU’S has been at the helm of creating value in a students life, and I am thrilled to be a part of the team that is at the forefront of redefining the way education is delivered across the world. I look forward to working with the team to further build on the foundation and growth potential in the business. From building new partnerships to expanding existing ones, I look forward to crafting new strategies to take BYJU’S into its next phase of growth.”

With over 15 years of experience, before joining BYJU’S, Bahadur  was a Partner at Bain & Company where she was a leader in the consumer product practice. She also co-led the ‘Women @ Bain’ India chapter which aims at creating an inclusive and gender non-conforming (GNC) environment for women to thrive in. At Bain, she has advised top Indian and MNC FMCGs on topics ranging across market entry, growth strategy, marketing, sales, M&A and organization design.

Bahadur has a B.A. (Hons) in Mathematics from St.Stephen’s College, New Delhi, and has an MBA from The Wharton School of Business. A consistent yoga practitioner, Rachna also has developed a keen interest in art and paints herself. She also loves to explore new cultures and cuisines.

Kilowatt promotes Nitish Raikar as the CEO

Kilowott, a leading independent digital agency has elevated Nitish Raikar from his earlier role of Chief Operating Officer to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for India & Global. Nitish will lead Kilowott’s  Strategic Brand Management, Deploy new service lines and Lead Growth Markets along with Business Operations.

Raikar, an Engineering graduate and armed with a stellar experience of more than 20 years in leading blue-chip companies such as IBM, Infosys and Mindtree etc. He brings experience across digital services like IT Consulting, Application Development, Business Analytics, Cloud, Mobile  Application and Software including SaaS Development, Software Testing and User Experience Design (UED). At Kilowott, Raikar will oversee the ambition of becoming the country’s largest digital solutions player and propel the company forward towards becoming a global technology powerhouse.

Speaking about the development, Kilowott Founder Aaron Fernandez, said  “We are delighted to announce Nitish as Partner and CEO of the company. He has earned the respect of his colleagues around the world, who join us today in congratulating him for his extraordinary contributions and unparalleled dedication to the company. Kilowott has been built on innovation with a consistent focus on customer delight. The 150+ team comprises agile, eager, passionate performers and we are constantly creating path-breaking digital solutions to deliver excellent outcomes for our clients. Nitish will lead us closer to the target of becoming an over 500 strong team and his immense technical expertise is going to be instrumental in Kilowott becoming a global tech solutions powerhouse."

Talking about his plans for Kilowott, Nitish Raikar commented, “Over the course of my career, I have worked with some of the biggest names in the global tech industry. At Kilowott, I want to leverage my experience and make the organization a leading digital solutions company in the global markets. Kilowott has an exciting portfolio of operations, strong project credentials and an incredible potential for growth which I am looking to be a part of.”

Raikar, added, “Kilowott is a high energy and unconventional agency. From the top leadership to the new recruits, everyone is seamlessly aligned to the big picture. The company has a vibrant, collaborative and easy work culture that is self-driven towards growth. I look forward to this exciting new chapter.”