MAM
AiM to bring Asian media professionals together
Mumbai: Asians in Media (AiM) will launch a new discussion forum next week in London to promote greater interaction between Asian media professionals in the UK.
AiM, celebrating their 1st anniversary this week, is the only magazine in the UK to cover the Asian professionals in particular and the media industry in general.
As part of the initiative, a regular series of events will be held at London Westminster’s prestigious Cinnamon Club. The aim of these programmes, the first of their kind in the UK, is to help Asian media professionals to work closer and raise issues that affect them.
Asians in Media Editor-in-chief Sunny Hundal, says: “I think its time that Indians, along with the rest of those from the sub-continent, took charge of what is being written and made about them in British media. We want to provide an opportunity for Asians here in all levels of the media to meet and discuss the important issues, as well as how we can take ourselves forward as a community. By having these debates we can raise our voices collectively.”
“There are also a lot of other issues such as immigration, outsourcing, and portrayal of the sub-continent, which regularly come up in discussions. Plus we would like to encourage the mainstream to invest in Asian media and target Asian consumers more actively. This will be a platform for them to meet, develop ideas and form business partnerships,” said Hundal.
The announcement coincides with a new report by the British government agency COI, to be released on Monday, encouraging mainstream British media companies to work closer with specialist Asian press in order to target younger and older members of the community.
“Our aim, through the online magazine, has always been to inform readers about the Asian media so that mainstream media can target the Asian community better. These events come at a time when the mainstream media find our radio, TV and publishing companies coming off age and getting economically attractive. That speaks for the recent investments made by heavyweights such as Sky and Express newspapers,” Sunny Hundal adds.
Moving forward, the Asians in Media endeavours to initiate more focused and wide-ranging dialogues on key current issues within the industry by organising bigger industry events.
Brands
Dabur buys minority stake in Ras Beauty for Rs 60 crore
Dabur Ventures deal backs fast-growing luxury skincare brand
MUMBAI: Dabur India Limited has dipped into the world of luxury skincare, signing a definitive agreement to acquire a minority stake in Ras Beauty Private Limited for Rs 60 crore. The investment marks the first bet from Dabur Ventures, the FMCG major’s Rs 500 crore platform set up in October 2025 to back high-potential, new-age direct-to-consumer brands.
Founded in Raipur by Shubhika Jain, her sister Suramya Jain and their mother Sangeeta Jain, Ras Beauty has grown from a family-led passion project into a fast-scaling “Farm-to-Face” skincare label. Its range of face elixirs, serums and moisturisers blends essential oils with nature-derived actives, striking a balance between botanical purity and laboratory precision.
The numbers tell their own story. Ras has clocked a three-year Cagr of around 75 per cent and an annual run rate of approximately Rs 100 crore, all while maintaining strong gross margins. That growth has been fuelled by a digital-first approach, in-house R&D and manufacturing, and a sharp focus on clean, sustainable sourcing.
Dabur India executive director and group head corporate strategy Abhinav Dhall, said the company was drawn to Ras’s distinct positioning at the intersection of nature, science and luxury. He added that the premium beauty segment is poised for robust expansion over the coming decade, and that Ras is well placed to capture that opportunity.
For Ras, the partnership is as much about scale as it is about shared philosophy. Co-founder and CEO Shubhika Jain said Dabur’s 141-year legacy of building trusted, purpose-led brands makes it a natural ally. The capital infusion, she noted, will help accelerate the brand’s omnichannel footprint, deepen research capabilities and invest in team and brand building, with an eye on establishing Ras as a leading Indian luxury skincare name both domestically and overseas.
With this move, Dabur is not just investing in a skincare label. It is placing an early wager on India’s growing appetite for premium, conscious beauty, and signalling that heritage FMCG players are ready to play in the new-age D2C arena.
