Brands
KISNA strengthens finance muscle as retail expansion gathers pace
Mumbai: KISNA Diamond and Gold Jewellery has bolstered its leadership bench with the appointment of Rajeev Toshniwal as chief financial officer, sharpening its financial firepower as the brand scales its retail footprint across Bharat.
The appointment comes as KISNA, the flagship jewellery brand of the Hari Krishna Group, accelerates expansion through an asset-light model, deepening its presence in tier 2, tier 3 and emerging markets while strengthening its omnichannel play.
In his new role, Toshniwal will oversee finance, strategy, compliance and governance, working closely with the leadership team to drive disciplined growth, tighten operational efficiencies and reinforce financial systems as the brand expands nationally.
Toshniwal brings over two decades of experience across retail, FMCG and apparel, with senior finance leadership roles at Noble Group SA, Think9 Consumer, Raymond and the Future Group. A chartered accountant and company secretary, he has led finance functions across large, multi-location retail networks, focusing on profitability, governance and scale.
KISNA’s growth strategy has been anchored in rapid retail rollout through franchise and shop-in-shop formats, supported by a strengthening omnichannel framework that blends digital discovery with offline inventory and assisted commerce. Alongside expansion, the brand continues to invest in design-led innovation, accessible diamond jewellery and transparent customer policies aimed at building long-term trust.
Commenting on the appointment, Ghanshyam Dholakia, founder and managing director, Hari Krishna Group and KISNA Diamond and Gold Jewellery, said the move reflects the brand’s focus on building leadership depth as it scales nationwide.
Parag Shah, ceo, KISNA Diamond and Gold Jewellery, said the brand is at a key inflection point, with rising demand for design-led and accessible diamond jewellery across Bharat.
Toshniwal said KISNA’s strong foundation in trust and accessibility presents a compelling opportunity to strengthen financial systems and support profitable growth.
With scale accelerating and systems tightening, KISNA is polishing its balance sheet for the next leg of its retail sprint.
Brands
Rakesh Menon joins Paytm as avp – lending
Fintech product leader takes on new role after building digital lending, payments and credit products across fintech ecosystem
MUMBAI: Rakesh Menon has joined Paytm as assistant vice president – lending, taking on a new role focused on strengthening the company’s lending and credit products.
Prior to this, Menon worked at Profectus Capital Pvt Ltd as chief manager – payments based financing and digital lending.
At Profectus, he designed and launched digital credit products for merchants with variable cash flows, including overdraft-linked and revenue-share lending models. He led end-to-end LOS–LMS API integrations with payment partners and aggregators, enabling real-time underwriting, disbursal and repayment workflows.
He also worked on funnel optimisation initiatives using journey analytics, improving onboarding, KYC and disbursal conversion by 35 per cent. He developed ecosystem partnerships for transaction-data-based credit assessment and automated settlement systems, and collaborated with credit and data science teams to strengthen risk models and early delinquency detection.
Menon standardised partner onboarding and API frameworks, reducing go-live timelines by 40 per cent and improving digital scalability.
Before Profectus Capital, he worked at PayU as senior manager – presales lead – enterprise business from August 2022 to August 2023. He set up a national presales function for fintech and digital commerce clients, aligning solutions such as EMI, BNPL, BBPS and offer engines to merchant requirements.
He also helped improve conversion rates by around 15 per cent through merchant persona mapping, demo frameworks and structured sales playbooks, working closely with product and go-to-market teams.
From April 2019 to July 2022, Menon served as business unit head – SMB – direct acquisitions at Worldline, where he built the SMB online payments vertical from scratch. The business scaled to Rs 2,500 crore in annual transaction volume, growing at 45 per cent year-on-year.
During this period, he introduced paperless onboarding processes including eKYC and eSign, developed partner dashboards and CRM automation systems, and integrated platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce and Tally to expand merchant adoption.
Across roles, Menon has worked across digital lending, payments and merchant financing, with experience in product development, ecosystem partnerships, API integrations and fintech-led growth strategies.
At Paytm, he will focus on scaling lending products and strengthening digital credit infrastructure within the company’s financial services ecosystem.
His appointment comes as fintech firms continue to expand their lending and embedded finance offerings in a competitive market.
