MAM
MEC India appoints Mukti Kumaran as west head
MUMBAI: MEC India has appointed Mukti Kumaran as its west head. Prior to joining MEC, she was heading the Mumbai branch at IPG Media Brands-BPN. Based out of Mumbai, Kumaran will report to MEC India managing director T Gangadhar.
Gangadhar said, “We are delighted to have Mukti onboard our leadership team. She is a progressive communications professional and brings with her a wealth of experience. I have no doubt she will be a real asset to MEC.”
Kumaran has been a media professional for over 18 years and brings with her a rich experience in strategic planning, buying and new business development. She has worked across markets and has experience on both sides – client and agency. She has earlier worked with Leo Burnett, Initiative Media (LMG), Lodestar and Wipro.
Kumaran added, “I believe the paradigm of media planning and buying is changing very rapidly. As consumers become platform agnostic and increasingly digital, the approach to engaging with them becomes that much more interesting and challenging. My focus will be to ensure that we are pushing our understanding of consumers and evolving smarter and newer ways to engage our brands with them. Looking forward to some exciting work here.”
Brands
Aman Gupta’s OFF/BEAT secures Rs 100 crore seed funding round
Bessemer backs new venture betting on AI and India’s digital shift
MUMBAI: Aman Gupta has raised Rs 100 crore in seed funding for his new venture OFF/BEAT, with Bessemer Venture Partners leading the round as it bets on a new wave of AI-led, consumer-first businesses in India.
The funding marks an early but significant push for OFF/BEAT, which is positioned to tap into a rapidly evolving market shaped by a digitally native generation and advances in artificial intelligence. The venture aims to build at the intersection of culture and technology, where brand identity and innovation increasingly go hand in hand.
Gupta, best known for co-founding boAt and scaling it into a Rs 3,000 crore-plus business, is now looking to apply those learnings to a new playbook. His focus this time is not just on building a consumer brand, but on leveraging AI and global networks to accelerate growth.
OFF/BEAT founder Aman Gupta said, “Having built from scratch before, I know what capital can do and what it cannot. This time, I was looking for partners with a global perspective who can help me leverage technology and AI, because that is where the future lies. Bessemer’s track record with companies like Anthropic, Shopify, Canva and LinkedIn says it all.”
The choice of investor reflects that ambition. Bessemer Venture Partners has backed global technology players such as Anthropic, Shopify, Canva and LinkedIn, bringing not just capital but strategic support and global reach.
Bessemer Venture Partners partner Anant Vidur Puri said, “We back founders who see around corners. Aman saw how a new India would come to think about aspiration, identity and quality, and built boAt as proof. He is now applying that same instinct to a market being reshaped by AI and by a generation with entirely new expectations.”
The investment comes at a time when India’s startup ecosystem is being reshaped by both consumer behaviour and technological disruption. Founders are increasingly expected to understand not just products, but the cultural shifts that drive adoption.
For OFF/BEAT, the journey is just beginning, but the signal is clear. In a market where attention is fleeting and expectations are rising, building something truly distinctive may be the only way to stay on beat.
