MAM
upGrad for Business onboards Work Better to strengthen its enterprise L&D offerings
Mumbai: upGrad for Business, the B2B arm of ed-tech major upGrad, has onboarded Work Better CEO Swapnil Kamat and his team to strengthen its enterprise learning and development offerings. Founded in 2008, the Mumbai-based Work Better is an executive education and training company that specialises in soft skills training, sales training and leadership training.
“Enterprise L&D is coming of age now. This synergy, hence, is aptly-timed and will fuel upGrad’s ambition of being one of the few Integrated LifeLongLearning Tech Companies in the world, dominating both B2B and B2C space,” commented upGrad co-founder and MD Mayank Kumar.
As per Technavio Research report, the global soft skills training market has the potential to grow by $14.9 billion by 2024 and is expected to exceed $60.89 billion by 2031, expanding at a CAGR of 12.7 per cent during the period, as per TMR’s study.
“The rise of multifunctional roles which require new-age subject knowledge is constantly pushing medium and large-sized organisations to re-think their L&D strategies not just for skilling their talent pool but also for retaining them,” stated upGrad For Business president Minaxi Indra. “With the two majors coming together, we look forward to empowering orgranisations with both, market-ready and future-ready skills in order to train their workforce with best of technical, leadership, and managerial varieties for maximum career benefits.”
According to Citi GPS’ (Global Perspectives & Solutions) September 2021 report, L&D is increasingly being viewed as a strategic investment, and two in three organisations are looking to plug the skills gap through internal upskill and reskill training initiatives.
“Work Better Training started as a result of our own frustration with corporate training. Having worked with multinationals before our entrepreneurial days, we had been a part of several executive training programs and realised that most of them were theoretical. Hence, we started Work Better Training in an endeavour to make corporate training programs more real, practical and implementable,” said Work Better Training CEO Swapnil Kamat. “Work Better has deep-rooted expertise in soft skills, sales & behaviour training, while upGrad is a leader in technical and hard skills training. With this consolidation, we both can leverage each other’s expertise to add further value & provide holistic solutions to customers.”
Brands
Safex Group appoints Richa Malhotra as group chief financial officer
Former Standard Chartered executive to steer finance
NEW DELHI: Safex Chemicals has appointed Richa Malhotra as group chief financial officer, strengthening its leadership team as the company prepares for the next phase of expansion in specialty chemicals and global agrochemicals.
In her new role, Malhotra will lead the group’s financial strategy, capital architecture and governance framework as Safex scales operations across multiple verticals including branded formulations, specialty chemicals and contract manufacturing.
A chartered accountant and graduate of Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi, Malhotra brings more than two decades of experience in business finance, strategic planning, corporate banking and client management.
Before joining Safex, she served as executive director, financial markets at Standard Chartered, where she led teams across India and Sri Lanka and worked closely with large corporates, global subsidiaries and commercial banking clients. Her expertise includes capital structuring, treasury operations, risk management and financial markets led financing solutions.
Safex Group promoter director and joint managing director Piyush Jindal, said the appointment comes at a pivotal time for the company. “Safex stands at an inflection point as we build an integrated platform across branded formulations, specialty chemicals and contract manufacturing. Richa’s experience across global financial institutions will strengthen our financial discipline and help unlock value across the group,” he said.
Malhotra said she was looking forward to contributing to the company’s next chapter of growth. “Safex has built a strong reputation over 35 years with its focus on integrity, innovation and agricultural insight. I am excited to be part of the organisation as it expands its footprint in India and global markets,” she said.
The appointment comes as Safex continues to strengthen its financial foundations and scale operations internationally, positioning itself for future growth milestones.
