Brands
ITC to acquire Mother Sparsh, expands natural baby care portfolio
MUMBAI: ITC Ltd. has announced definitive agreements to acquire the remaining 73.5 per cent stake in Mother Sparsh Baby Care Private Ltd. an Ayurvedic and natural baby care brand for Rs 81 crore, through a mix of primary subscription and secondary share purchase. This will bring ITC’s total investment in Mother Sparsh to approximately Rs 126 crore.
Mother Sparsh, which has been an associate company of ITC since 2021, has built a strong reputation among Indian mothers for its Ayurvedic, natural products spanning baby personal care, health and hygiene, and specialised baby care solutions. The brand’s digital-first model and robust presence across its D2C platform and e-commerce channels have helped it achieve an impressive annual revenue run rate of over Rs 110 crore.
The acquisition aligns with ITC’s ‘ITC Next’ vision, spearheaded by chairman Sanjiv Puri, which is focused on creating a future-ready portfolio by tapping into high-growth, digital-first segments.
ITC Ltd. divisional chief executive, personal care products business division Sameer Satpathy said, “This acquisition is an exciting opportunity, aligned with our aspiration to build a formidable portfolio of future ready, best-in-class innovative offerings that delights Indian consumers. Mother Sparsh in a true spirit of entrepreneurship, has created a reputed brand with Indian ethos in the natural baby care space, powered by an assortment of innovative products and a robust digital ecosystem.”
Mother Sparsh founder & CEO Himanshu added, “We are delighted that ITC, who came on board as an early investor, is now taking Mother Sparsh to the next level. This partnership is a testament to the brand’s potential in the fast-growing natural baby care segment. We’re confident that ITC’s institutional strengths will help serve the evolving needs of Indian mothers for generations to come.”
The acquisition process will be completed over the next two-three years, with the Mother Sparsh team including founder & CEO Himanshu continuing to head operations during this transition phase.
Brands
Rakesh Menon joins Paytm as avp – lending
Fintech product leader takes on new role after building digital lending, payments and credit products across fintech ecosystem
MUMBAI: Rakesh Menon has joined Paytm as assistant vice president – lending, taking on a new role focused on strengthening the company’s lending and credit products.
Prior to this, Menon worked at Profectus Capital Pvt Ltd as chief manager – payments based financing and digital lending.
At Profectus, he designed and launched digital credit products for merchants with variable cash flows, including overdraft-linked and revenue-share lending models. He led end-to-end LOS–LMS API integrations with payment partners and aggregators, enabling real-time underwriting, disbursal and repayment workflows.
He also worked on funnel optimisation initiatives using journey analytics, improving onboarding, KYC and disbursal conversion by 35 per cent. He developed ecosystem partnerships for transaction-data-based credit assessment and automated settlement systems, and collaborated with credit and data science teams to strengthen risk models and early delinquency detection.
Menon standardised partner onboarding and API frameworks, reducing go-live timelines by 40 per cent and improving digital scalability.
Before Profectus Capital, he worked at PayU as senior manager – presales lead – enterprise business from August 2022 to August 2023. He set up a national presales function for fintech and digital commerce clients, aligning solutions such as EMI, BNPL, BBPS and offer engines to merchant requirements.
He also helped improve conversion rates by around 15 per cent through merchant persona mapping, demo frameworks and structured sales playbooks, working closely with product and go-to-market teams.
From April 2019 to July 2022, Menon served as business unit head – SMB – direct acquisitions at Worldline, where he built the SMB online payments vertical from scratch. The business scaled to Rs 2,500 crore in annual transaction volume, growing at 45 per cent year-on-year.
During this period, he introduced paperless onboarding processes including eKYC and eSign, developed partner dashboards and CRM automation systems, and integrated platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce and Tally to expand merchant adoption.
Across roles, Menon has worked across digital lending, payments and merchant financing, with experience in product development, ecosystem partnerships, API integrations and fintech-led growth strategies.
At Paytm, he will focus on scaling lending products and strengthening digital credit infrastructure within the company’s financial services ecosystem.
His appointment comes as fintech firms continue to expand their lending and embedded finance offerings in a competitive market.
