MAM
Duolingo appoints Karandeep Singh Kapany as India marketing manager
Mumbai: Language learning app Duolingo Inc has announced the appointment of Karandeep Singh Kapany as the company’s first official representative in India. In this role, Kapany will lead growth, marketing, and operations in the Indian market.
Prior to joining Duolingo, Kapany led marketing efforts for brands such as Tanishq, HolidayIQ, and Verse (Dailyhunt and Josh).
As a senior management executive with over 11 years of experience across multiple industries and geographies, Kapany has experience in running independent businesses, owning sales targets, bringing new product offerings to market, and leading large multi-disciplinary teams to drive execution excellence.
“In a country as diverse as India which has 22 official languages, 121 spoken languages and countless regional dialects, language plays a crucial role in everyday life. To some, language learning may be a step towards the future and to others, it is a way to stay connected to their roots. Whatever the reason, we are thrilled to partner with Indians in their journey to master a new language,” stated Kapany. “I look forward to my role at Duolingo and believe the growth we have seen in India thus far is only the tip of the iceberg.”
MAM
Sameer Nair shares heartfelt note as he exits Applause Entertainment
After nine years building the streamer’s content engine, one of India’s best-known TV men is moving on
MUMBAI: Sameer Nair is out. The chief executive of Applause Entertainment, the content studio backed by Kumar Mangalam Birla’s media empire, has announced his departure after nearly nine years at the helm, closing the chapter on one of Indian entertainment’s more quietly consequential careers.
Nair, who built Applause from the ground up in its current avatar, oversaw a slate that spanned Indian originals and international adaptations, threading together a hub-and-spoke business model that partnered with streaming platforms, broadcasters and production houses alike. The results were uneven, as they always are in content, but the ambition was not.
In a post on LinkedIn, Nair was generous to his outgoing patron. He thanked Birla for being an “inspirational boss and a great patron of the arts,” and signed off with a cheerful “Au Revoir” and a promise to remain Applause’s biggest cheerleader. Whether that sentiment survives the next chapter remains to be seen.
No successor has been named. Applause Entertainment did not immediately comment.
Nair built the machine. Now someone else has to run it — and in a streaming market that is simultaneously consolidating and convulsing, that is no small ask.
