MAM
GroupM announces its new YCO
MUMBAI: Over the last year, GroupM has made a paradigm shift in the way it operates in South Asia, keeping in mind the ever changing media landscape. With the digital medium at the heart of its processes and planning, it has resulted in the conglomerate winning several new businesses across its agencies and specialist units.
GroupM has announced the new members of the YCO (youth committee) for 2014-15 to help it transform into a digitally centric marketing network. The names include Ashima Chetan, Chinmay Kelkar, Dany Coutinho, Divya Nair, Farah Siddiqui, Farzeen Udwadia, Manoj Kumar, Manvi Singh, Mohit Sharma, Nakul Agarwal, Parul Pandhoh, Ruth Alice Noranho, Sangeetha Mahadevan, Subhamoy Das and Vaibhav Choudhari.
The group of the brightest stars under 30 across GroupM agencies and specialist units will work together with the GroupM senior leadership on key initiatives.
The YCO initiative, started a year ago, has become a benchmark for GroupM’s worldwide offices and the industry alike. GroupM South Asia CEO CVL Srinivas said, “We launched several new initiatives in 2013 as part of our ‘New Me’ roadmap – which is helping us transform to a digitally centric marketing communications network from just a media agency. YCO was one such initiative in the talent space. We wanted to harness the knowledge, energy and enthusiasm that exist at the junior levels of the organisation and give them a platform where they could add value to our network. The YCO worked closely with the senior leadership team (EXCO) through the year in three areas – digital transformation, talent retention and internal & external communication programs. We got a lot of rich and valuable insights from YCO in all these areas and have made several changes to the way we used to operate”
GroupM South Asia chief talent officer Gaurav Hirey added, “The YCO initiative has been tremendously successful at GroupM. This year we have integrated a reverse mentoring element into the program where YCO members will mentor an EXCO member helping them sharpen or develop new skills. We believe that this initiative just like many others in GroupM will help us to be future ready and deliver client delight.”
GroupM India, the country’s largest media investment conglomerate, was honored with the ‘The Dream Company to Work’ award for in the media and entertainment sector. GroupM is also in the overall list of ‘Dream Employer of the Year’ in India. The awards have been conferred by the World HRD Congress 2014 in Mumbai.
Brands
Dabur buys minority stake in Ras Beauty for Rs 60 crore
Dabur Ventures deal backs fast-growing luxury skincare brand
MUMBAI: Dabur India Limited has dipped into the world of luxury skincare, signing a definitive agreement to acquire a minority stake in Ras Beauty Private Limited for Rs 60 crore. The investment marks the first bet from Dabur Ventures, the FMCG major’s Rs 500 crore platform set up in October 2025 to back high-potential, new-age direct-to-consumer brands.
Founded in Raipur by Shubhika Jain, her sister Suramya Jain and their mother Sangeeta Jain, Ras Beauty has grown from a family-led passion project into a fast-scaling “Farm-to-Face” skincare label. Its range of face elixirs, serums and moisturisers blends essential oils with nature-derived actives, striking a balance between botanical purity and laboratory precision.
The numbers tell their own story. Ras has clocked a three-year Cagr of around 75 per cent and an annual run rate of approximately Rs 100 crore, all while maintaining strong gross margins. That growth has been fuelled by a digital-first approach, in-house R&D and manufacturing, and a sharp focus on clean, sustainable sourcing.
Dabur India executive director and group head corporate strategy Abhinav Dhall, said the company was drawn to Ras’s distinct positioning at the intersection of nature, science and luxury. He added that the premium beauty segment is poised for robust expansion over the coming decade, and that Ras is well placed to capture that opportunity.
For Ras, the partnership is as much about scale as it is about shared philosophy. Co-founder and CEO Shubhika Jain said Dabur’s 141-year legacy of building trusted, purpose-led brands makes it a natural ally. The capital infusion, she noted, will help accelerate the brand’s omnichannel footprint, deepen research capabilities and invest in team and brand building, with an eye on establishing Ras as a leading Indian luxury skincare name both domestically and overseas.
With this move, Dabur is not just investing in a skincare label. It is placing an early wager on India’s growing appetite for premium, conscious beauty, and signalling that heritage FMCG players are ready to play in the new-age D2C arena.
