MAM
Sameer Singh joins GroupM as South Asia CEO
MUMBAI: Media agency GroupM has appointed Sameer Singh as CEO of its South Asia operations.
Singh will lead the continued development of GroupM’s data-centric enablement for its agencies as it delivers competitive advantage to clients with digital leadership and content. Based in Delhi, starting in July, he will report to CVL Srinivas who is the country manager at WPP India and Mark Patterson, the CEO of GroupM Asia Pacific.
Singh joins GroupM from Google India where he was director for sales, responsible for the agency business. He was earlier based at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California where he worked on measurement, brand consulting, insights and product solutions.
CVL Srinivas says, “When planning the leadership succession, we found in Sameer the perfect candidate who could take GroupM South Asia to the next level. We have built a strong enabling environment for our agencies with data centricity, digital leadership and content services. Sameer has a track record of driving change at organisations focused on media, technology, brands and ROI. I look forward to working with Sam who has been a client, a media partner and a friend for many years”.
Srinivas has been CEO for GroupM South Asia since January 2013. In October 2017, he was given the additional responsibility of Country Manager for WPP India. He will now transition fully to his WPP role.
Mark Patterson adds, “Sameer is a unique talent and a great business partner with a fantastic track record delivering growth for market-leading world-class businesses across the globe. He now joins another one, and we are excited, proud and pleased to welcome him to GroupM South Asia.”
Speaking on his appointment Singh mentions, “The India market is transitioning to the next level of media sophistication, with GroupM adroitly navigating this space for their clients, and along with their media partners. I am super excited to join the GroupM team on this wonderful journey, and I look forward to bringing to the table, my experiences built at Google, as a marketer, and while working across emerging and developed markets. I look forward to contributing, and to learning from my colleagues, our clients, and our partners.”
In a career spanning over 25 years across various geographies including India, China, UK, USA, and the Middle East, Singh, an alumnus of IIM Calcutta, worked across brand management, marketing services, media, forecasting ROI and research, sales and procurement at Gillette, P&G, GSK and Google. Prior to Google, he was VP, Global Media at GSK where he led its global pitch, set up the global media team and embedded digital excellence.
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.
