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Dentsu Aegis buys leading UI/UX design agency Fractal
MUMBAI: Dentsu Aegis Network has announced the acquisition of Fractal Ink Design Studio Pvt Ltd, a leading experiential design studio in India, which will join the network’s award-winning digital agency – Isobar, and be rebranded as “Fractal Ink Design Studio – Linked By Isobar”.
The acquisition will add significant scale to the agency’s expertise in mobility and user experience, the most in-demand disciplines in the market. In addition, it will bring together a team of 1,000 digital experts, one of the largest in India, including the combined Isobar team and the existing network digital brands iProspect, WATConsult and Dentsu Webchutney.
Established in 2010, Fractal specialises in user experience and user interface design (UI/UX) and digital design strategy services for major clients including Aditya Birla Group, Raymond, Idea group, MetLife, Times Network and Axis Bank. It is amongst the top three largest design studios in India, boasting 65 digital experts operating from Mumbai and Bangalore.
Recently, Fractal was awarded the title of “India’s Best UI/UX Design Studio” by POOL, one of India’s leading design magazines. Its innovative design work has also been recognised by CII Awards, having won various awards in 2014 and 2015 including the Interaction Design – Consumer, Home and Personal in the Internet of Things category.
Fractal CEO, co-founder and creative director Tanay Kumar will join the Dentsu Aegis leadership team in India and will report to Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia chairman and CEO Ashish Bhasin. Co-founders Geeta Suthar, Hemant Suthar and Priyanka Agrawal will continue in their roles as part of the management team.
Bhasin said, “Fractal has an ideal combination of technology and creative services. Given the impending explosion of Internet of Things, wearables and mobile, this unique skill set will add to the group’s status of being digitally ahead in India.
“Today, Dentsu Aegis Network’s digital share in India is three times that of the market average and this will bring us closer to our mission of being the second largest agency group in India by end 2017, overturning – for the first time – the existing ranking which has historically been in place for over 80 years in India,” Bhasin added.
Isobar global CEO Jean Lin said, “To deliver immersive Brand Commerce experiences that close the gap between brand inspiration and transaction, we need passionate talent with strong in-market design capabilities. Fractal further strengthens our local mobile and experience design capability.”
Kumar said, “We have come a long way in the last six years in establishing ourselves as leaders in the digital design and strategy space. Dentsu Aegis Network’s shared vision towards the digital and connected world will allow us to tap into latest industry best practices and tools as well as scale our operations geographically.”
MUMBAI: In India’s fast-moving payments race, Visa has just swiped in a new leader. The company has named Suresh Sethi as its India country head, marking a key leadership shift as it sharpens its focus on digital payments growth in the market. Sethi steps into the role following his recent exit from Protean eGov Technologies, where he served as chief executive officer. He succeeds Sandeep Ghosh, who has moved on after more than four years at Visa to pursue an external opportunity.
The appointment comes at a time when Visa is doubling down on its expansion strategy across India and the wider region, deepening partnerships and accelerating adoption in an increasingly competitive digital payments ecosystem.
Sethi brings with him a broad, cross-market perspective shaped by decades of experience across corporate banking, retail financial services, mobile money and large-scale government technology initiatives. He began his career at Citigroup, where he spent 14 years working across India, Africa, South America and the United States, focusing on transaction banking services within the corporate bank.
His appointment signals a blend of institutional experience and market familiarity qualities that could prove critical as Visa navigates a landscape where fintech innovation, regulatory evolution and consumer adoption are all accelerating at once.
As digital payments in India continue to scale rapidly, the leadership change underscores a simple reality, in a market where every tap, scan and swipe counts, who leads the charge can matter just as much as the technology itself.
