MAM
Oplifi appoints Pranjal Sharma as head- business development
Mumbai: The digital media company Oplifi has appointed Pranjal Sharma as head of business development of the company. Sharma will be based out of Oplifi’s Gurgaon office.
Sharma has a decade of experience and has worked with companies like mCanvas, The Quint, Pocket FM. His last stint was with Statiq, where he was heading the entire media business operations and client partnerships for DOOH and Digital offerings. He is an MBA postgraduate from Chitkara university and holds the Executive Business strategy degree from IIM Kozhikode. He started his career as an Audio engineer which has ingrained creativity and a sense for detail in his business development modus operandi.
Speaking on the appointment, Oplifi co-founder Anup Kumar said, “We are thrilled to welcome Pranjal Sharma, who brings a unique blend of digital media sales expertise and a remarkable entrepreneurial spirit. This hire reflects Oplifi’s commitment to pioneering innovation and harnessing the power of entrepreneurial minds. With our new leader on board, we’re excited to drive growth and create new opportunities for our clients and partners, further solidifying our presence in the Indian market.”
Commenting on his new role, Pranjal says, “This role is exciting, where we are building new relationships and always coming up with innovative solutions to solve business problems. Oplifi is on a rapid growth trajectory, and I am happy to be a part of this journey.”
MUMBAI: Mar-tech network Wondrlab Network is in talks to acquire advertising major Madison World, according to media reports, in a move that could reshape India’s agency landscape.
In a statement shared with Social Samosa, Wondrlab Network founder and CEO Saurabh Varma, confirmed that the group is actively evaluating acquisition opportunities but declined to confirm any specific transaction.
“We have consistently stated that Wondrlab is building for scale, and acquisitions remain an important part of that strategy. We are in discussions with multiple companies across capabilities that strengthen our platform-first, full-funnel marketing and technology offering. Any development will be communicated at the appropriate time,” Varma said.
Wondrlab has pursued acquisitions as part of an ambitious plan to buy 26 agencies across three phases. In 2025, it completed its seventh acquisition, underscoring its appetite for inorganic growth.
According to reports, Madison founder Sam Balsara is seeking around Rs 1,000 crore for the agency. If the Wondrlab deal goes through, it would rank as the largest acquisition of an Indian agency by another Indian agency.
Wondrlab was launched in November 2020 by Saurabh Varma, Vandana Varma, and Rakesh Hinduja. Its first acquisition followed swiftly with the December 2020 purchase of Amit Akali’s creative shop, What’s Your Problem.
Since then, the group has steadily expanded its footprint. It acquired influencer marketing firm Opportune and performance marketing agency Neon in 2022. In 2023, it bought Salesforce consultancy and data analytics firm Cymetrix, alongside Poland-based WebTalk, marking its entry into Europe. It later added influencer marketing agency OPA and, last year, took a majority stake in BigStep Technologies, a generative AI and cloud-native software firm.
Madison, meanwhile, has long been a target for global advertising groups. Over the years, it has drawn interest from WPP, Publicis Groupe and Dentsu. In May 2025, Havas was reported to be the frontrunner, with an offer of about Rs 700 crore for a majority stake.
Earlier talks with WPP in 2015, when Madison was valued at roughly Rs 500 crore, collapsed over valuation and equity differences. Discussions with Publicis and Dentsu also failed to yield a deal.
