MAM
Apna appoints Kartik Narayan to lead its jobs marketplace vertical
MUMBAI: Apna Group has appointed industry veteran Kartik Narayan as the chief executive officer of its jobs marketplace vertical, signalling a fresh chapter in the company’s growth story.
Narayan, who most recently served as CEO of Teamlease’s staffing business, brings more than two decades of leadership experience across giants such as Vodafone Idea, Cisco, and Bharti Airtel. In his new role, he will report directly to Apna’s founder and group CEO, Nirmit Parikh.
As Apna scales its rapidly growing jobs platform, Narayan will lead efforts to strengthen employer partnerships and drive adoption of AI-powered hiring tools. He also aims to make recruitment smarter, faster, and, quite literally, more conversational, thanks to Apna’s latest tech ventures.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Kartik to our leadership team,” said Parikh. “With his decades of experience running large businesses, we’re confident he’ll help us empower millions of job seekers and employers who rely on Apna every day.”
Narayan, clearly energised by the new challenge, added, “Apna has redefined how India hires at scale. What excites me most is seeing companies build their own AI recruiting agents on our platform, it’s like watching the future of hiring unfold in real time.”
The appointment comes as Apna Group diversifies beyond jobs, with the launch of Blue Machines, an enterprise-grade Voice AI platform, and a new education vertical in the works: both designed to prepare India’s next-generation workforce for an increasingly digital world.
MAM
Sleepwell unveils nationwide sleep study on World Sleep Day
79 per cent use screens before bed, 36 per cent of 18–25-year-olds sleep ≤5 hours.
MUMBAI: Sleepwell just dropped the pillow truth bomb because when India’s sleeping less and scrolling more, even the mattress wants to stage an intervention. On World Sleep Day 2026, Sleepwell released its nationwide Sleep Study, painting a stark picture of India’s escalating sleep crisis. The findings show that 79% of Indians use screens right before bed, fuelling restless nights and drowsy days. Alarmingly, 36% of young adults aged 18–25 sleep five hours or less making them the country’s most sleep-deprived group.
The study also busts the myth of “catch-up sleep”, 65% of respondents actually sleep even later on weekends, pointing to increasingly irregular patterns that spill fatigue into the working week. Mattress discomfort emerged as a frequently overlooked culprit behind late-night wake-ups and constant leak-anxiety checks.
To drive the message home, Sleepwell’s CMO Puneet Gulati appeared on Zee Business, stressing that quality sleep isn’t a luxury, it’s foundational health. He highlighted how the right mattress can transform restless nights into restorative ones.
The brand doubled down with clever late-night activations, partnering with a quick-commerce platform to serve contextual ads between 11 pm and 3 am, gently nudging bleary-eyed scrollers to consider mattress discomfort as the reason they’re still awake and pointing them to the nearest Sleepwell store. Digital influencers and creators also shared relatable stories of how poor sleep fuels impulsive late-night behaviour.
In a nation that celebrates hustle but quietly pays for it in lost rest, Sleepwell isn’t just selling mattresses, it’s selling the radical idea that sometimes the bravest thing you can do is close your eyes and actually sleep well.
