MAM
Cifdaq doubles down on firepower with high-stakes C-suite shake-up
MUMBAI: There’s a storm brewing in the crypto world, and Cifdaq Group is flying straight into it — but not without bolstering its cockpit first. The blockchain beast has just recruited two heavyweight copilots to chart its next big leap in the Indian and global markets. Enter: Ankur Sharma as group chief financial officer (CFO) and Smrita Singh Chandra as group chief brand and communications officer (CBCO).
These aren’t just titles to slap on a LinkedIn update. Sharma and Chandra bring over 35 years of combined experience to a Web3 outfit that’s got its eyes set on a multi-billion-dollar future. According to company brass, the move is about more than beefing up the leadership bench — it’s a statement of intent.
“The cryptocurrency industry is growing at an unprecedented pace, projected to attain a valuation of $5 billion globally by 2030. These appointments are part of our strategy to build a future-ready leadership team capable of navigating rapid change, scaling operations, and creating meaningful impact. Ankur will be instrumental in refining our financial strategy, strengthening investor relations, and enabling sustainable growth. Smrita’s strategic storytelling expertise will be key to building trust and strengthening engagement across stakeholders—from consumers and regulators to partners worldwide. Together, they will help us fortify our foundation, drive innovation, and elevate our brand as we continue to lead in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space. We’re excited to welcome them aboard at this transformative moment,” said Cifdaq group founder & chairman Himanshu Maradiya.
Sharma comes packing some serious numbers. With a track record that includes turbocharging boAt’s omni-channel revenue almost threefold in under three years, he’s now in charge of cracking the crypto-finance code at Cifdaq. Past roles at Cravatex (FILA, VANS), AGS Group and Reliance Capital make Sharma less of a CFO and more of a revenue ninja.
“Cifdaq Group is at the cutting edge of blockchain and digital finance, and I’m thrilled to be given the opportunity to support its acceleration towards the next chapter. With a strong foundation in place, my focus will be on refining our financial strategy to unlock new growth opportunities, streamline operations, and ensure that we’re well positioned to deliver long-term value to both, our users and investors”, said Sharma.
Chandra, meanwhile, joins the war room with a megaphone in one hand and a brand manual in the other. With nearly two decades shaping brand and policy narratives — from Dream11 to Fedex to Jet Airways — she’s the communications powerhouse Cifdaq wants as it courts regulators, dodges FUD, and chases user trust.
“Joining Cifdaq at this pivotal moment is an exciting opportunity and a challenge. As we redefine the future of blockchain and financial technology, my focus is on amplifying our brand voice and reinforcing our values—transparency, trust, compliance, and innovation—to connect meaningfully with both Indian and global communities”, she said.
With the crypto market ballooning and India’s digital asset debate simmering on low heat, these appointments mark a crucial play. If the future of finance is being rewritten, Cifdaq wants a firm grip on the pen — and it just handed it to two of the sharpest scribes around.
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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.
