Brands
Former Tesla India director Prashanth Menon joins Venttup as strategic advisor
MaaS startup taps global leader to drive scale-up and expansion plans
KOCHI: Venttup has appointed Prashanth R. Menon, former India director at Tesla, as strategic advisor to steer its next phase of growth and global expansion.
Menon brings over two decades of experience across strategy, operations and business transformation. At Tesla, he played a key role in shaping the company’s India entry strategy and building its operations across multiple verticals, while also serving as chairman of the board for Tesla India.
In his new role, he will work closely with Venttup’s leadership team to drive scale-up strategy, strengthen operational efficiency and profitability, and support investor engagement and global market expansion.
Welcoming the appointment, Venttup co-founder and ceo sandeep nair said, “We are excited to welcome Prashanth R. Menon to Venttup. His deep global experience in strategy and transformation, combined with his leadership in scaling global organisations, will help us accelerate our journey towards building a world-class manufacturing startup from India.”
Before his India stint, Menon served as director advisory at Tesla in the US, where he led global teams focused on revenue growth, productivity improvement and cost optimisation. Earlier, he worked with EY, advising senior executives on corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, supply chain and operational integration.
Sharing his perspective, Venttup strategic advisor prashanth r. menon said, “I am impressed by the outlook and the energy of the Venttup leadership team, and their vision to build a sustainable and local supply chain to fulfil global needs. Venttup has a promising business model aligned with the Government of India’s Make in India initiative.”
Backing the move, Unicorn India Ventures managing partner bhaskar majumdar said, “A warm welcome to Mr Menon to the Venttup advisory team. His deep industry experience and understanding of global supply chain dynamics will significantly strengthen Venttup’s scale-up strategy and growth journey.”
With this appointment, Venttup is sharpening its focus on building a scalable, globally competitive manufacturing platform, signalling its ambitions to play a larger role in India’s growing deep-tech ecosystem.
Brands
Shiv Ratan Agarwal, the man who built Bikaji Foods, passes away
The man who turned a Bikaneri snack stall into a global brand leaves behind a formidable legacy
RAJASTHAN: Shiv Ratan Agarwal, the founder, promoter, chairman and whole-time director of Bikaji Foods International, passed away on Thursday, April 23. His death was described by the company as an irreparable loss.
Agarwal built Bikaji from the ground up, transforming what was a traditional Bikaneri snacks business into an internationally recognised packaged foods brand. His formula was deceptively simple: keep the authentic taste, add modern business muscle. It worked. The company grew into a nationally and globally present force, listed on both the BSE and the National Stock Exchange.
The board of directors, management and employees of the company conveyed their deepest condolences to his family, calling his passing unexpected.
Bikaji was unequivocal about its intentions going forward. “The company remains committed to building upon the strong foundation laid by him and will continue to uphold and strengthen the goodwill of the Bikaji brand by carrying forward his vision, principles, and entrepreneurial ethos,” it said in a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges. The company added that it would strive to sustain its growth trajectory while leading a profitable and responsible business.
On the regulatory side, Bikaji informed the exchanges that Agarwal would cease to be classified under the promoter and promoter group category, in accordance with Regulation 31A(6)(c) of the listing regulations, following his demise.
He turned a snack into a stock market story. The question now is who carries the recipe forward.
