MAM
Bimaplan appoints Anurag Mishra as CEO to lead global expansion
MUMBAI: Bimaplan appointed seasoned international banker Anurag Mishra as its chief executive officer. This strategic leadership transition comes as the company sharpens its focus on profitability and accelerates expansion into global markets.
Mishra brings nearly 30 years of experience in global banking and financial services, most recently serving as Regional Head for Global Trade, Commodity & Supply Chain Finance at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, managing complex financial operations across emerging markets. Previously, he spent 15 years at Standard Chartered Bank, including a tenure as CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, Nepal, where he led transformative initiatives and built strong institutional relationships across regulatory and diplomatic circles.
“Anurag’s deep expertise in financial services and emerging markets makes him the ideal partner for Bimaplan’s next phase of growth,” said Bimaplan founder Vikul Goyal. “While I continue to focus on product innovation and strategic partnerships, Anurag will drive operational excellence and business expansion.”
The leadership change coincides with Bimaplan’s growing global ambitions. Following the successful launch of its first international program in Zambia, in partnership with a local microfinance institution, the company is now actively expanding across the Middle East and Africa. These regions represent significant opportunities for Bimaplan’s technology-first approach to embedded insurance, designed to seamlessly integrate coverage into financial platforms.
“The global embedded insurance market holds immense potential to enhance financial inclusion,” said Mishra. “I look forward to leveraging my experience to forge strategic partnerships and navigate regulatory landscapes across key emerging markets.”
Since its founding, Bimaplan has delivered insurance solutions to nearly 5 million customers by embedding policies into digital journeys at the point of transaction. This model has proven especially effective in reaching underserved segments traditionally left out by conventional insurance distribution.
Operating under Purple Umbrella Fintech Pvt Ltd, Bimaplan has built partnerships with leading insurers and digital platforms in India. The company is backed by marquee investors including Orios Venture Partners, Y Combinator, and Finsight Ventures, having raised $6 million across two funding rounds.
“Bimaplan’s leadership transition marks a pivotal moment in its evolution into a global insurtech leader,” said Sukhmani Bedi, Partner at Orios Venture Partners. “Anurag’s international experience, combined with Vikul’s entrepreneurial vision, sets the stage for sustainable growth across emerging markets.”
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Abhay Duggal joins JioStar as director of Hindi GEC ad sales
The streaming giant brings in a seasoned revenue hand as the battle for Hindi television advertising heats up
MUMBAI: Abhay Duggal has a new desk, and JioStar has a new weapon. The media and entertainment veteran has joined JioStar as director of entertainment ad sales for Hindi general entertainment channels, adding 17 years of hard-won revenue experience to one of India’s most powerful broadcasting operations.
Duggal is no stranger to big portfolios or bruising markets. Before joining JioStar, he spent a brief stint at Republic World as deputy general manager and north regional head for ad sales. Before that, he put in three years at Enterr10 Television, where he ran the north region for Dangal TV and Dangal 2, two of India’s leading free-to-air Hindi channels. The north alone accounted for more than 50 per cent of total channel revenue on his watch, a number that tends to get attention in any sales meeting.
His longest stint was at Zee Entertainment Enterprises, where he spent over six years rising to associate director of sales. There he commanded the Hindi movies cluster across seven channels, owned more than half of north India’s revenue across flagship properties including Zee TV and &TV, and closed marquee sponsorships across the Indian Premier League, Zee Rishtey Awards and Dance India Dance. He also handled monetisation for the English movies and entertainment cluster and the global news channel WION, a portfolio that would stretch most sales teams twice his size.
Earlier in his career Duggal closed what was then a Rs 3 crore single deal at Reliance Broadcast Network, one of the largest in Indian radio at the time, before that he helped launch and monetise JAINHITS, India’s first HITS-based cable and satellite platform.
His edge, by his own account, lies in marrying data and instinct: translating audience trends, inventory signals and client demands into long-term partnerships built on cost-per-rating-point discipline rather than short-term deal chasing. In a media landscape being reshaped by streaming, fragmented attention and AI-driven advertising, that kind of rigour is increasingly rare and increasingly valuable.
JioStar, which blends the scale of Reliance’s Jio platform with the content firepower of Star, is doubling down on its advertising business at precisely the moment the Hindi GEC market is getting more competitive. Bringing in someone who has spent nearly two decades doing exactly this, across some of India’s most watched channels, is a pointed statement of intent. Duggal has spent his career turning audiences into revenue. JioStar is clearly betting he can do it again, and bigger.
