MAM
Dentsu’s iProspect bolsters leadership with role elevations
MUMBAI: iProspect India, the digital agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has strengthened its leadership band through different role advancements. The digital landscape is evolving, a dynamic industry coupled with seasoned client demands are re-defining the way it works. In keeping with this change, iProspect India has made key meritorious promotions.
Ankita Pande, previously AVP – Operations, is now Head of Strategy at a pan India level, based in Delhi. She comes with a keen strategic bent of mind and great potential to add value to the business. She will also work on growing the branding business amongst other basket of objectives.
Based in Mumbai, Venkat Gavaskar Dontha has been assigned the responsibility of Branch Head – West. He was AVP – SEO prior to this. The new role involves heading the Mumbai region and surrounding cities with respect to client servicing, business development and operations.
Ankita and Venkat will both report into iProspect India CEO Rubeena Singh.
Shipra Tandon, Strategist – Content Marketing, will head the agency’s new content marketing division Intelligent Content at a national level. This business line will primarily facilitate the use of content in digital performance, providing an end-to-end solution on content strategy, creation, promotion and impact. She will report into Srikar Nagubandi, Senior Vice President – Operations and is based in Mumbai. Shipra was earlier Strategist – SEO.
Rubeena Singh, CEO, iProspect India said, “Various factors such as changing industry dynamics, enhancing the client experience, ensuring best interests of the business and doing justice to the skillsets of some of our leaders, demand that we always have a passionate and result-oriented leadership team at the helm.”
She added: “The strategy and content marketing pieces take top priority at iProspect India as we move forward and are crucial elements of our growth, which will feed into business development and client servicing.”
Brands
Hocco crosses Rs 530cr revenue in two years
Sauce.vc-led Rs 100cr raise values ice cream brand at Rs 2,500cr pre-money as quick commerce hits 20 per cent of sales.
MUMBAI: Hocco has just scooped a seriously sweet milestone crossing the Rs 530 crore revenue mark in just two full years of operations. The fast-growing Indian ice cream and indulgence brand announced it has raised Rs 100 crore in fresh capital led by Sauce.vc. The round values the company at Rs 2,500 crore pre-money and underscores investor confidence in its rapid scale and distinctive India-first approach.
Founder Ankit Chona said the brand’s success stems from solving real Indian challenges extreme summer heat, fragmented cold chains and culturally rooted tastes. “In India, product development doesn’t end in the lab. It only ends when it survives the street,” he noted. This philosophy has produced viral hits such as Aamchi mango ice cream, BIX cake-sponge sandwiches, the Oh cone and culturally relevant collaborations like Haldiram’s Barfi and festive Modak specials.
Hocco currently operates manufacturing facilities in Ahmedabad and Panipat with a production capacity of approximately 3 lakh litres per day, running near full capacity in peak season. The fresh capital will help expand this to around 4.5 lakh litres per day.
Quick commerce has emerged as a major growth engine, now contributing ~20 per cent of overall business and growing nearly 2x year-on-year. The channel has boosted product discovery, increased consumption frequency and helped extend ice cream beyond its traditional seasonal limits.
Sauce.vc founder Manu Chandra said, “At Sauce, we believe that when you chance upon an outlier business, you double down with stronger conviction. We see Hocco as just that.”
With a strong innovation pipeline, deeper distribution and continued focus on cultural relevance, Hocco is entering its third year aiming to capture even more mind space and market share. In a category long dominated by legacy players, this young brand is proving that the coolest way to win is to build for India’s realities, one scoop, one street and one satisfied craving at a time.
