YAAP Founder Atul Hegde no more

Atul Hegde, Founder and Chairman of YAAP Digital and a veteran of India’s advertising and digital marketing industry, passed away on this morning following a heart attack. He breathed his last at around 8am. He was 53.

Hegde’s sudden passing leaves a significant void in India’s advertising, marketing and entrepreneurial ecosystem. Over a career spanning more than two decades, he built a reputation as a digital-first business leader, entrepreneur and investor, combining experience in advertising with a sharp focus on technology, content and emerging consumer behaviour.

He was best known for founding YAAP, which he built into an integrated digital marketing and technology company with operations across India and international markets. Under his leadership, the company expanded across content, influencer marketing, digital media, data and technology-led marketing solutions.

Hegde’s entrepreneurial journey extended beyond YAAP. He was also associated with early-stage ventures and investments, and remained closely engaged with the evolution of India’s startup and digital economy. Through Rainmaker Ventures, which he co-founded, he backed and mentored emerging businesses, reflecting his wider interest in entrepreneurship and innovation.

His career had deep roots in the advertising industry. Before building YAAP, Hegde spent years working across branding, communication and digital marketing, experience that later shaped his ambition to create an independent, technology-enabled agency network.

In recent years, Hegde had been steering YAAP through an important phase of growth. The company reported strong financial performance in FY26, with profit after tax nearly doubling year-on-year, while Hegde articulated a larger ambition of building a homegrown, full-stack and technology-powered agency network.

Only recently, he had spoken about YAAP’s next phase of growth, centred on artificial intelligence, proprietary technology, strategic acquisitions and geographic expansion. His vision was to bring together data, content, creativity and technology as brands increasingly sought integrated marketing solutions.

Hegde was also known across the industry as a thought leader who closely tracked shifts in digital culture, technology, branding and consumer behaviour. Beyond business, he was widely recognised for his passion for sneakers and contemporary culture — interests that became part of his distinctive public persona.

His passing comes at a time when YAAP was entering a new chapter of expansion and growth. For colleagues, peers and the wider marketing fraternity, Hegde will be remembered not only as the entrepreneur behind YAAP, but as a leader who consistently pushed for a more technology-led and globally ambitious Indian marketing ecosystem.