MAM
HUL appoints Kedar Lele as ED, customer development
Mumbai: Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) has rejigged its top management on Thursday and appointed Kedar Lele as its executive director for customer development from 1 July.
Lele, currently chairman and managing director of Unilever Bangladesh takes over from Srinandan Sundaram, who will move into a new role as executive director for foods and refreshment.
Lele joined HUL in 2004 and was inducted into the company’s management committee. Prior to his Bangladesh stint, he was responsible for leading the e-commerce and modern trade business and oversaw the customer development centre for HUL.
“Under his leadership, the Bangladesh business made great all-around progress – be it in CD coverage expansion, the transformation of our supply chain, or setting up sustainable models for market development. I would especially like to laud Kedar’s efforts towards developing talent and improving diversity in the Bangladesh business. I am certain that Kedar will take the HUL customer development function to the next level of performance,” HUL chairman & managing director Sanjiv Mehta said.
Lele moved to Dhaka in 2017 to head the Unilever Bangladesh business. He led the business operations, sales & customer development function and oversaw the go-to-market organisation involving marketing, customer and trade management, media, marketing research, and activation there.
Brands
upGrad acquires Internshala in 90 per cent stock deal to own career funnel
Deal aims to scale Internshala’s revenue from Rs 45 crore to Rs 100 crore
MUMBAI: upGrad has acquired Internshala, the world’s largest internship and early-talent marketplace, in a bid to stitch education, skilling and employment into a single career pipeline.
The transaction, announced on 26 February, is structured as a 90 per cent stock-swap, with the financial terms undisclosed. The deal deepens upGrad’s push to control the full career lifecycle, from learning to hiring, at a time when India’s skilling economy is under pressure to deliver outcomes, not just credentials.
Founded in 2010, Internshala claims more than 34 million registered users and 450,000 employers, with roughly 3 million active applicants each year. Over 40 per cent of its users come from tier 2 and tier 3 cities, and most of the platform’s traffic is organic. The company currently reports an annual revenue base of Rs 45 crore.
Under upGrad’s ownership, Internshala is expected to scale aggressively. The company aims to grow the platform’s revenue to Rs 100 crore and beyond, backed by increased investment in product development, AI-led talent matching and enterprise hiring solutions.
Internshala will continue to operate as an independent brand, led by its founder and CEO Sarvesh Agrawal, while tapping into upGrad’s technology stack, distribution and learning ecosystem.
“Education and employment in India have operated in silos for too long,” said upGrad head of corporate strategy and growth Chirag Samdaria. He said the acquisition strengthens the earliest and most consequential stage of the career journey, where intent is high and outcomes can be shaped.
Agrawal described the deal as a natural convergence of learning and opportunity, adding that the partnership would allow Internshala to skill millions of candidates and supply pre-trained talent to employers at scale.
Investec acted as exclusive financial adviser to Internshala.
The acquisition marks a strategic milestone for upGrad as it seeks to position itself not merely as an education provider, but as an end-to-end workforce development platform aligned with India’s evolving labour market.
