MAM
KlugKlug eyes 10x growth by the end of FY 24-25
Mumbai: KlugKlug, a global SaaS platform for influencer marketing, plans to expand across India & South Asia, Southeast Asia, MENA, and Latin America, targeting 10x growth by the end of this financial year. The company has already achieved five times growth in the first two quarters of 2024.
KlugKlug’s growth is driven by a diverse client base, including electronics, FMCG, B2C companies, and e-commerce platforms. As technology adoption in influencer marketing increases, KlugKlug has become a trusted partner for brands seeking tech-driven solutions.
With over 200 clients, KlugKlug is expanding its presence in markets like Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and other key regions in the next 12 to 18 months.
“Data has become an integral part of influencer marketing to drive optimisation, transparency, and therefore compliance. Fortunately for us, brands are increasingly seeing its value and even teaming up with us. At KlugKlug, we’ve been working to help them make this transition smoother by helping brands make radically better decisions based on data and insights and see concrete numerical benefits. It has helped to work with clients and industry captains to weigh in with their inputs to build what we have and find validation of our superiority against the best in the world across all geographies, globally. We are blessed and eager to capitalise on this,” said KlugKlug co-founder & CEO Kalyan Kumar.
KlugKlug co-founder and CPO Vaibhav Gupta added, “Emboldened by our client successes across categories and sizes and geos, KlugKlug is keen to further jumpstart the expansion. We’re witnessing more CMOs and marketing professionals embrace the tech narrative as essential and not feel good in influencer marketing decisions. KlugKlug has earned the role of a trusted resource for companies – we have so many testimonials – looking to refine their strategies and see instant wins from day zero. It’s exciting and humbling to see global and local brands alike leverage KlugKlug’s to make smarter decisions and easily maximize their campaign impact.”
Brands
YES Bank hands the keys to SBI veteran Vinay Tonse as it bets on a new era
Former SBI managing director appointed as YES Bank’s new MD and CEO
MUMBAI: YES Bank is done rebuilding. Now it wants to grow. The private sector lender has appointed Vinay Muralidhar Tonse as managing director and chief executive officer-designate, with RBI approval secured and a start date of April 6, 2026 confirmed. The three-year term signals the bank’s intent to shift gears from crisis recovery to full-throttle expansion.
Tonse, 60, is no stranger to scale. Most recently managing director at State Bank of India, he oversaw a retail book of roughly $800bn in deposits and advances, one of the largest in the country. Before that, he ran SBI Mutual Fund from August 2020 to December 2022, a stint that saw assets under management surge from Rs 4.32 lakh crore to Rs 7.32 lakh crore across market cycles. Add stints in Singapore and four years leading SBI’s overseas operations in Osaka, and the incoming chief arrives with a genuinely global CV.
His academic grounding is equally solid: a commerce degree from St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru, and a master’s in commerce from Bangalore University.
The appointment follows an extensive search and evaluation process by the bank’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee. NRC chairperson Nandita Gurjar said the committee unanimously backed Tonse, citing his leadership track record, governance credentials and ability to drive the bank’s next phase of transformation.
Non-executive chairman Rama Subramaniam Gandhi was unequivocal. “I am certain that Vinay Tonse, with his vast experience as a senior banker, will propel YES Bank to its next phase of growth,” Gandhi said, adding that the bank remains focused on strengthening its retail and corporate banking franchises and expanding its branch network.
Rajeev Kannan, non-executive director and senior executive at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the bank’s largest shareholder, said Tonse’s experience across retail, corporate banking, global markets and asset management positioned him well to lead the lender. SMBC said it looks forward to working with Tonse and the board as YES Bank pursues its ambition of becoming a top-tier private sector lender anchored in strong governance and sustainable growth.
Tonse succeeds Prashant Kumar, who took the helm in March 2020 when YES Bank was in freefall following a severe financial crisis, and spent six years painstakingly stabilising the institution, rebuilding governance and restoring operational scale. Gandhi was generous: “The bank remains indebted to Prashant Kumar, who is responsible for much of what a strong financial powerhouse YES Bank is today.”
Tonse, for his part, struck a purposeful note. “Together with the board and my colleagues, I remain deeply committed to creating long-term value for all our stakeholders,” he said, pledging to build on Kumar’s foundation guided by his personal motto: Make A Difference.
Beyond the balance sheet, Tonse played cricket at college and club level and represented Karnataka in archery at the national championships — sports he credits with teaching him teamwork, situational leadership, discipline and focus. In quieter moments, he reaches for retro Kannada music, classic Hindi songs, and the crooning of Engelbert Humperdinck, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar.
YES Bank has its steady-handed rebuilder in Kumar to thank for survival. Now it has a scale-obsessed growth banker at the wheel. The next chapter starts April 6.
