MAM
Paytm First Games onboards Sachin Tendulkar as brand ambassador
NEW DELHI: Paytm First Games, a subsidiary of India's homegrown digital financial service platform Paytm, has roped in global sporting legend Sachin Tendulkar as the brand ambassador. The icon of a billion cricket-loving Indians, Tendulkar would be instrumental in creating awareness about the exciting genre of fantasy sports in the country. Other than fantasy cricket, he would help PFG promote and generate excitement around all sports including kabaddi, football, and basketball. Paytm First Games is among the leading fantasy sports gaming platforms in the country and the partnership with Sachin will increase its reach in smaller cities and towns.
For millions of Indians, the legendary cricketers' journey has had a deep impact on their personal lives. He has been the sole inspiration for many to play, watch, and believe in cricket, more as a religion than just a game. By welcoming him as the brand ambassador PFG hopes to inspire gaming enthusiasts to experience the fantasy sports phenomenon. The company has also set aside Rs 300 crore for investing in growing the market for fantasy sports and other online gaming events during this financial year. It said that over the next six months, 200 plus live events would be featured on the platform including international and domestic cricket tournaments, soccer leagues and more.
Sachin Tendulkar said, “Cricket is an engaging sport, and we all tend to have opinions about the game – right from player selection to playing strategies. Paytm First Games will give fans the opportunity to don their thinking hats and experience the thrill of making the correct choices and getting their teams to win. I am happy to partner with Paytm First Games to enable cricket fans to engage more with the ever-popular game of cricket”
Paytm First Games COO Sudhanshu Gupta said, "Cricket is like a religion in the country which inspires over a billion people and fantasy sports takes the fan’s level of engagement to the next level where the user experiences the thrill of playing along with the athletes. As India’s homegrown gaming platform, our vision is to get the sports fans closer to the action with fantasy sports. Most of us have grown up watching the Master Blaster in action. With Sachin as a brand ambassador, we wish to inspire mobile gaming enthusiasts to experience fantasy sports which are about tactics, strategic planning and research."
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Paytm First Games offers over 50 games where the most popular is fantasy sports where players apply research and strategy to engage with live sporting events. The platform currently engages with over 80 million gaming enthusiasts with the majority of them from smaller cities and towns.
MAM
Swiggy appoints Swapnil Bajpai CEO of Dineout and Scenes
Leadership shift signals sharper push into dining out and experiences verticals.
MUMBAI: Swiggy is plating up a leadership refresh, and it’s serving it with a side of experience. The company has appointed Swapnil Bajpai as chief executive officer for Swiggy Dineout and Scenes, placing him at the helm of its dining-out and experiences businesses as it sharpens focus beyond food delivery. Bajpai, who shared the update via Linkedin, steps into the role after several years within the company, where he has moved across key functions including business operations, sales, supply and monetisation. Most recently, he served as senior vice president and business head for Swiggy Dineout, Assure and Lynk, driving growth and operational scale across these verticals.
His track record at Swiggy includes leading advertising and monetisation strategies for both food delivery and dineout segments, alongside overseeing supply and sales functions, roles that have increasingly become central as the platform diversifies revenue streams.
Before Swiggy, Bajpai built his career across consumer giants. He worked as regional sales manager at Reckitt and spent several years at Procter & Gamble, where he handled market strategy, planning and large-scale sales operations. His stint there also involved leading trade programmes and designing shopper-centric go-to-market strategies across categories.
In his new role, Bajpai will be tasked with strengthening Swiggy’s dining-out and experiences ecosystem, two areas that are fast emerging as the company’s next growth frontier. With urban consumers leaning into eating out and curated experiences, Swiggy appears to be betting on a more rounded lifestyle play rather than just doorstep delivery.
The move underscores a broader shift in Swiggy’s strategy, from being the app that brings food home, to becoming the one that takes you out.
