Brands
Bata launches Victoria Ballerina, its most comfortable shoe for women yet
MUMBAI: Life may not always be a stage, but Bata wants women to stride like they own it. The footwear giant has unveiled the Victoria Ballerina, billed as its most comfortable ballerina ever, designed for women who walk with purpose and flair. The launch is part of Bata’s global “Make Your Way” campaign, introduced during the brand’s 130th anniversary in 2024. The Victoria Ballerina draws on the spirit of dance long a symbol of strength, rhythm, and freedom of movement reimagined for modern women who wear ballerinas not just for the stage, but for everyday life.
Blending on-trend design, comfort and affordability, the collection reflects Bata’s promise to marry style with functionality. “Every day is a chance to make your way,” said Bata India chief strategy & business development officer Badri Beriwal. “With Victoria Ballerina, we are celebrating not only the power of the perfect shoe, but the power of women who dance through life with strength.”
The Victoria name is no coincidence. It embodies confidence, triumph, and motion, a mindset as much as a design. The collection is positioned as more than footwear: a companion for women to move freely, express themselves boldly, and embrace the daily rhythm of their journeys.
Backed by a 360-degree global marketing rollout, the campaign is set to amplify across digital, outdoor, and in-store platforms, spotlighting ballerinas as both a style staple and a symbol of empowerment.
From the cobbled streets of Europe to the bustling metros of India, Bata is betting big that the Victoria Ballerina will help women not just walk, but make their way.
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.
