Pratik Maru has been elevated to Vice President-Marketing at Sony Pictures Networks India.

He has been with the network for over 2 years.

Prior to SPNI, Maru was General Manager at Wavemaker.

He was earlier with Hotstar as Head of Digital Marketing.

At iProspect he spent 5 years before stepping down as National Head Paid Media in April 2017. 

Condé Nast has appointed Sandeep Lodha as the new Managing Director of India, officially assuming the role in July.

Lodha replaces Alex Kuruvilla who announced earlier this year that he would be stepping down from the managing director role and transitioning to a new role within the company as non-executive chairman.

He will oversee all aspects of Condé Nast business across all brands in India. Lodha, an IIT-Delhi alumni with an MBA from Wharton, most recently served as the CEO of the music streaming app Gaana, where he re-established the company’s leadership in the industry by pivoting from a mostly free music streaming model to a paid-only model enabling a sustainable turnaround of business. During his leadership at Gaana, the company saw substantial user growth, as well as growth in user retention, engagement, and subscriptions. Lodha will be based in Condé Nast’s Mumbai office.

“I’m thrilled to be working closely with Sandeep as we look to expand our client relationships in this important market. Sandeep’s deep experience in retail and consumer products, as well as his technological and engineering background, make him the perfect person to lead business growth in India, where we are focused on not only our globally recognized titles, but also on establishing ourselves as a center of excellence in technology,” said Pam Drucker Mann, Condé Nast’s Global Chief Revenue Officer & President, U.S. Revenue & APAC, to whom Lodha will report.

“I’m incredibly proud to be joining Condé Nast, home to some of the world’s most iconic brands. India has particularly large growth potential, and I’m excited to take Condé Nast to new heights in this region,” said Lodha. “Condé Nast has already shaped itself into a technology-driven, digital-first content business, and as a tech entrepreneur, my role is to build on that strong foundation. From new opportunities in luxury ecommerce to digital channel expansion to other formats of offline user engagement, I am confident that we will be able to push the boundaries here in India.”

Prior to Gaana, Lodha was the founder and CEO of Weddingz.in. His other roles have included Executive Director at the Walt Disney Company in India overseeing their consumer products division, Sr. Principle at global business consulting firm Bain & Company, as well as senior engineering titles at both Riverstone Networks (now Alcatel Lucent) and Synopsys.

Piaggio Vehicles, a 100 % subsidiary of the Italian auto giant Piaggio Group has  appointed Dhiraj Tripathi as vice president - Export & Electric Vehicles. In his new role with Piaggio India, Tripathi will be responsible for the Sales, Service, Marketing & Business Development for EVs and Exports.

Tripathi is an auto industry veteran with over 25 years of experience in diverse automotive consumer segments. His expertise lies across B2B and B2C sales operations, global business development, EV start-up, P&L management, revenue enhancement, and strategic alliances. He has previously been associated with Electric One, Hero MotoCorp Ltd, Bajaj Auto Ltd, Castrol, and Honda Cars India Ltd. His last stint was with Electric One as the Chief Operating Officer where he was responsible for the overall business and strategy of the brand.

Tripathi holds a General Business Administration and Management degree from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, an MBA degree from Utkal University and a Mechanical Engineering degree from Bangalore University.

Underdog Athletics, exclusive India distributor and licensee for Under Armour, has appointed Surya Kiran as Head – Marketing. In his new role, Surya will be responsible for driving the brand narrative of Under Armour in India as the most loved athletic performance brand, while simultaneously delivering on premium shopping experiences across retail and e-commerce.

Surya comes from a rich & diverse 11 years of experience spread across e-commerce, tech & FMCG categories. Prior to joining Underdog Athletics, Surya served as Head of Brand Marketing & Social Media at Infinix India - one of the fastest growing tech brands in the country, & helped build the brand from ground up. His expertise lies in consumer marketing, brand management, new product launches & go-to-market strategies.

Regarding his new role, Surya said, “Under Armour/Underdog Athletics embodies the soul and spirit of every performance driven athlete. The brand has been able to create a cult fan base in India by owning a strategic position in the market, and is well poised for a steep growth in the country. For me it’s a seamless coming together of my two passion points – storytelling & athletic/sports performance. I’m thrilled to add my bit to take it to the next level.”

CoinDCX has appointed Vijay Ayyar as Vice President, International Markets.

In his new role, Vijay will lead the strategy and execution for CoinDCX to establish the platform's international presence in the coming months.

Based in Singapore, he brings with him 17 years of rich and diverse experience across crypto, big tech and consulting. Vijay previously led corporate development and international, including early stage investing and strategic projects for Luno, a crypto wallet and exchange owned by the Digital Currency Group (DCG).

Sumit Gupta, CEO and Co-founder, CoinDCX said, “India has unparalleled tech prowess and talent, and we are excited about the potential of making India the global web3 hub, underpinned by our vision to ‘Make in India’ for the world. With Vijay's vast experience and deep industry expertise, I’m confident his fresh perspectives and ideas will help us tap on emerging global Web3 opportunities.”

Speaking on his appointment, Vijay said, “As crypto leaders in India, CoinDCX is operating from a position of strength and there is a tremendous opportunity in front of us. With a product stack that is amongst the best in the industry, I’m really excited to build a crypto and Web3 business from India for the world.”

Vijay will be responsible for overseeing and managing CoinDCX’s operations and growth in international markets, including analyzing trends, identifying new business opportunities, and augmenting services so that they align with the needs and preferences of customers across regions.

Kaspersky, a global cybersecurity company, has appointed Jaydeep Singh as its General Manager for India.

Jaydeep has a history of strategic advisory, handling solution sales and business development in individual and leadership roles in the Indian & SAARC region over the last 25 years.

In his new role as General Manager for India, Jaydeep will be responsible for leading Kaspersky’s business operations and driving growth across the country, especially in the enterprise segment. Additionally, he will play a pivotal role in fostering partnerships, driving innovation, and staying abreast of emerging threats and technologies in the cybersecurity landscape. His strategic vision and proven ability to build and nurture relationships with customers, partners, and stakeholders make him the ideal choice to further strengthen Kaspersky’s presence and expand its market share in India.

Commenting on his new journey with Kaspersky, Jaydeep Singh said, "I am enthusiastic about joining Kaspersky, and contribute to the mission of helping enterprises efficiently and effectively mitigate the risk of data breaches and advanced adversaries. With cyberattacks on the rise, organisations need reliable cybersecurity solutions. I look forward to bringing my frontline operational and strategic experience to Kaspersky's customers and partners in India."

Before his appointment at Kaspersky, Jaydeep held senior leadership roles in companies like Citrix as Sales Director. He has also worked with Oracle as Senior Sales Director. Jaydeep completed his MBA in Marketing and Finance from Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati University and obtained his Executive General Management Programme (EGMP) from the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB).

Adrian Hia, Managing Director for Asia Pacific, Kaspersky said, "I am delighted to welcome Jaydeep to the team. His expertise in the enterprise segments and our targeted industry domains will ensure that Kaspersky adopts resilient strategies to guide our sales and marketing efforts in India. Jaydeep is an outstanding business leader with a strong track record of managing business performance, team motivation and customer experience. Kaspersky will continue its innovation mindset with a wide range of B2B products, solutions and services while sustaining its leadership in the B2C market and Jaydeep is an apt person for this position."

Wondrlab has appointed Nikhil Uniyal as the National Revenue Lead.

With over 14 years of experience in diverse media and marketing roles, Nikhil brings a wealth of expertise in crafting and managing large-scale campaigns, creating intellectual properties, and adeptly leading sizable teams. Notably, Nikhil's journey into multi-media solution planning took off as he completed Google's Squared programme when it first launched in India. This ignited his passion for multimedia solution planning, a field in which he has consistently thrived. Before joining Wondrlab, Nikhil Uniyal held prominent positions at Mirchi, Times of India and Group m, among others. His notable achievements include driving bottom-line profitability, increasing revenue for existing intellectual properties, and effectively managing a diverse client base.

On the appointment, Vandana Verma, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of WondrLab, said, "We are thrilled to have Nikhil join the WondrLab Network. His proven track record of success, extensive industry knowledge, exceptional leadership skills, and ability to drive revenue growth will play a pivotal role in our continued success. As the National Revenue Lead, Nikhil will be instrumental in driving revenue growth and spearheading strategic initiatives that will further enhance our full-funnel experience. I extend my best wishes to him."

On joining Wondrlab, Nikhil Uniyal said, "Joining Wondrlab presents an exciting opportunity for me, and I am eager to contribute to the growth of the MarTech network. Wondrlab's commitment to innovation, strategic thinking, and data-driven approach perfectly aligns with my professional values. I look forward to collaborating with the talented team at Wondrlab and leveraging my expertise to drive revenue and deliver exceptional results for our clients."