MAM
Mumbaikars unlocked their inner-power at the Duracell Durathon 2018!
Mumbai, November 25th, 2018: Today, Duracell, the iconic consumer battery company and the leading manufacturer of high-performance alkaline batteries worldwide launched the second edition of Duracell Durathon 2018 in Mumbai. The actress, anchor and fitness enthusiast, Mandira Bedi, flagged-off the family run and took part in the run along with her son, Vir. The event saw more than 200 families come together to run stronger for longer on a Sunday morning. The Durathon gave parents an opportunity to run for 2 KM and 5 KM marathon with their kids at Jio Garden, BKC.
Getting the perfect start to a beautiful Sunday morning, the families warmed up with an energetic Zumba session and lined up at the starting point of the Duracell Durathon. The upbeat and enthusiastic kids and parents ran alongside the famous running Duracell Bunny as they unlocked their inner power when finishing the run together. To keep the energy of the families going, the event saw various photobooths and stalls to engage with the parents and their kids.
Over the course of the last few months, Duracell drove targeted communication to their core audiences using a combination of programmatic and social platforms. Mini runs at schools, programme for jogger’s, flash mob at R-City Mall and retail activations at Shoppers Stop & Hypercity outlets in Mumbai were a few of the on-ground touchpoints done by Duracell to build awareness about the Durathon. Along with this, they also tied up with Radio city and PVR cinemas to reach out to as many families as possible.
David Abraham, Duracell Marketing Director for Middle East and India said, “Just like the promise of longevity that Duracell represents, the Durathon also provided a great opportunity for families to unlock their inner-power and bond even more closely while running. We are also thankful to Mandira Bedi for participating again to run the Durathon with her son along with all the families who participated in the event. Our running Duracell Bunny who is featured in our advertising across the globe always outlasts its opponents and always wins graciously. That’s why running comes natural to us, as it has been a common theme all throughout our brand communication. We intend to roll this property out to other countries too, based on our success in India.”
Mandira Bedi, actress, anchor and fitness enthusiast initiated the run with her son, Vir. She said, “This will be the third time that I associate with the Durathon and it’s my second run for the Mumbai Durathon. It is such a wonderful feeling, spending that one Sunday with my son and seeing so many families out and about, running, bonding and having a purpose, that is staying healthy together. The beautiful thing about the Durathon is that it invites families to a healthy pursuit. I am so happy to see such an amazing turnout this year and hope next year would be even bigger”.
The Durathon saw 15 Mumbai-based families across different age groups take away big prizes.
Brands
Tessolve lands a semiconductor veteran to drive its next big push
Ravi Kumar Chirugudu, who started his career at ISRO and has spent 35 years building chips and companies, joins the Bengaluru-based firm as president and chief operating officer
BENGALURU: Tessolve has never been shy about its ambitions. The Bengaluru-based engineering services firm already counts 18 of the world’s top 20 semiconductor companies among its clients, employs more than 3,500 engineers across 12 countries, and last year pocketed a $150m investment from TPG. Now it has hired the executive it believes can turn those assets into something bigger. Ravi Kumar Chirugudu, a 35-year semiconductor veteran who once built satellite payloads for ISRO and has since scaled engineering organisations across three continents, joins as president and chief operating officer, effective immediately.
THE MAN AND THE MANDATE
The appointment is, by any measure, a serious hire. Ravi Kumar Chirugudu comes to Tessolve after senior leadership stints at HCL Technologies, Altran and Wipro, where he managed large profit-and-loss portfolios and oversaw cross-regional teams. Over the course of his career, he has been instrumental in bringing more than 1,000 new products to market across the high-tech, energy and manufacturing verticals. Before the private sector claimed him, he began his working life as a scientist at the Indian Space Research Organisation, contributing to research and development in charge-coupled device technology and satellite payloads, a foundation that shaped everything that followed.
In his new role, he will lead Tessolve’s global growth strategy: expanding its engineering capabilities, deepening customer relationships and accelerating innovation across semiconductor and high-performance computing domains. The brief is broad, but the context is specific. Tessolve operates in the $550 billion global semiconductor market, and its recent moves, the acquisition of Germany’s Dream Chip Technologies and the TPG funding round, have sharpened both its reach and its expectations.
Srini Chinamilli, co-founder and chief executive of Tessolve, is characteristically direct about why Ravi Kumar Chirugudu was the choice:
“As we scale our global semiconductor and system engineering capabilities, Ravi’s appointment marks an important step forward. As global semiconductor demand continues to accelerate across industries, it is creating significant opportunities across the semiconductor lifecycle, from design, packaging, validation and systems integration. Ravi’s deep knowledge and leadership in this ecosystem brings the right mix of industry expertise, customer connect and execution capability, which will play a key role in strengthening our position as a trusted global engineering partner and reinforcing our market leadership.”
THE NEW ARRIVAL SPEAKS
Ravi Kumar Chirugudu, for his part, frames the move in terms of timing and culture, two factors that veteran executives tend to weigh as heavily as title or compensation:
“I am happy to join Tessolve at a time when the industry is rapidly evolving towards more complex, AI-driven systems. What stands out to me is its strong people-first culture and its commitment to bringing value to its customers. The strength of its global team, combined with its deep expertise in semiconductor innovation and next-generation product engineering, creates a solid foundation to build differentiated, scalable solutions. I look forward to working closely with the team to drive strategic growth and strengthen its role in shaping the global semiconductor ecosystem.”
The reference to AI-driven systems is not incidental. The semiconductor industry is in the midst of a structural reshaping, driven by the insatiable compute demands of artificial intelligence. For engineering services firms like Tessolve, which offers end-to-end capabilities from silicon design to packaged parts and invests in high-performance computing, high-speed interfaces, photonics and 5G, the moment is both an opportunity and a test. The company says it is well positioned to capture the next wave of industry growth. Ravi Kumar Chirugudu is now the person who has to prove it.
He came in from outer space, literally, and spent three decades learning how the semiconductor industry works from the inside out. Now Tessolve is betting that accumulated knowledge can help it cross the next frontier. In the $550 billion global chip market, the gap between ambition and execution is measured in engineering hours and leadership quality. Tessolve has just gone shopping for both.
