iWorld
Mitron TV expands senior leadership team with new hires
MUMBAI: Indian short-form video app Mitron has expanded its leadership team with two senior hires. Chandan Chhabra joins as VP of operations and Nisha Pokhriyal joins as VP of marketing.
In his new role, Chhabra will establish SoPs, drive efficiency across multiple departments and focus on strategic planning of the business. Pokhriyal will be responsible for leading Mitron’s overall brand marketing initiatives and accelerating the start-up’s growth trajectory. Both of them will work closely with Mitron’s co-founders Shivank Agarwal and Anish Khandelwal.
Prior to joining Mitron, Chhabra was one of the founding members and director of customer experience and content quality at OLX India, where he led the content strategy and operations across South Asia markets. An IIM-A alumnus, Chandan comes with 17 years of experience spread across diverse industries such as BPO, Telecom, BFSI, E-Commerce, Auto and Edtech. He is also a certified customer experience professional (CCXP), an accredited customer experience master, a CX Mentor (ACXM, ACX-Mentor) and Asia’s first accredited customer experience specialist (ACXS).
Pokhriyal served as associate director – marketing of VMate, the short video app from Alibaba Mobile Business group. She has been responsible for managing end-to-end integrated marketing for well-known campaigns such as #VMateAsliHoliBaaz and #GharBaitheBanoLakhpati amongst others. She has a career spanning over 10 years, having worked at Dentsu Webchutney and IPAN. She is a certified usability analyst from Human Factors International. Nisha was also the official torchbearer for the Winter Olympics held in south Korea in 2018.
Mitron co-founder and CEO , Shivank Agarwal said: “We are thrilled to welcome both Nisha and Chandan to the Mitron family. With Nisha and Chandan’s appointments, we are laying the foundation for Mitron's rapid growth. Their expertise will foster and fuel our long-term expansion plans . I am confident that our portfolio of a strong team will chart a remarkable journey for the home grown short format video app space.”
Mitron VP operations Chandan Chhabra said: “I am particularly impressed with what Mitron has achieved in such a short space of time. I look forward to being part of this amazing team as we scale the business and enter a new phase of growth.’’
Mitron VP marketing Nisha Pokhriyal said: “This is an exciting time for short format video app space. I am pleased to be part of Mitron’s journey, as we continue to build upon the brand’s existing success and strive to attain new milestones.”
iWorld
X launches XChat messaging app on iOS with calls and encryption
Standalone app marks shift from “everything app” vision, adds E2E messaging.
MUMBAI: From one big app to many small chats, X seems to be splitting its ambitions. X has rolled out its standalone messaging app, XChat, to iOS users, opening up a new front in its evolving product strategy. The app allows users to connect with existing X contacts through private and group messages, file sharing, as well as audio and video calls. The launch follows a limited beta phase, where the platform tested the product with a smaller user base to refine the experience. Now available publicly, XChat marks a notable pivot from earlier ambitions championed by Elon Musk to turn X into a single “everything app” combining messaging, payments, commerce and more.
Instead, the company under xAI ownership and backed by SpaceX appears to be building a suite of standalone applications, each targeting specific use cases while expanding its broader ecosystem.
At launch, XChat includes end-to-end encrypted messaging, PIN-based access, disappearing messages, and features such as message editing, deletion for all participants, and screenshot blocking. The company has also said the app is free from advertisements and tracking mechanisms, positioning it as a privacy-first alternative in a crowded messaging space.
However, security claims around the platform are likely to face scrutiny. Earlier iterations of XChat drew criticism from experts who argued it fell short of established encrypted platforms like Signal. With the wider rollout, the app is expected to undergo fresh evaluation to assess whether those concerns have been addressed.
Beyond messaging, XChat will also house X’s Communities feature, which is being discontinued on the main platform due to low usage and spam concerns. Migrating these users could provide an early boost to adoption, effectively turning XChat into both a communication and community hub.
The move underscores a broader recalibration at X less about cramming everything into one app, and more about spreading bets across multiple touchpoints, one message at a time.
