eNews
Truecaller names Athul Prabhu product director for ads business
MUMBAI: Truecaller has tapped Athul Prabhu as product director for its advertising arm, a move aimed at supercharging the company’s biggest growth engine.
Prabhu, an ad-tech veteran with stints at Glance, TikTok, Viacom18 and Nielsen, will shape the product vision and strategy for Truecaller Ads. At Glance, he built the lock-screen app’s ad-tech infrastructure from scratch, enabling global monetisation through programmatic and direct sales.
The appointment comes as Truecaller Ads, delivering more than 5 billion daily impressions and used by over 10,000 brands, cements its reputation as one of the world’s largest mobile advertising platforms. Hemant Arora, vice-president of the global ads business, said Prabhu’s remit will be to design a diversified suite of AI- and data-led products tuned to local markets.
Prabhu, an IIT Kanpur graduate with an MBA from ISB Hyderabad, called the platform “uniquely positioned to redefine the future of trusted communication and digital advertising”, citing its reach and user trust as rare assets for brands.
Advertising accounts for the lion’s share of Truecaller’s growth, and the company is betting Prabhu can turn scale into sharper monetisation.
eNews
Swiggy sees record orders during India vs New Zealand T20 final
Chicken biryani tops match-day menu as fans order 7,500 times per minute at peak.
MUMBAI: India’s T20 final didn’t just break stumps, it broke Swiggy’s delivery records, proving cricket fans celebrate victories with plates, not just flags. Swiggy, India’s leading on-demand convenience platform, reported a sharp spike in food orders during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final between India and New Zealand. On 8 March 2026, overall orders rose 23.2 per cent year-on-year compared with the same date in 2025, driven by fans turning living rooms into mini stadiums complete with match-day feasts.
Key highlights from the evening:
- Orders during peak match hours (7–10 pm) were 2.1 times higher than pre-match levels.
- The highest order rate hit 7,500 orders per minute at 19:45.
- Chicken biryani reigned supreme as the most-ordered dish, followed by masala dosa, chicken fried rice, garlic breadsticks and paneer butter masala.
While metros such as Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad led volumes, the cricketing fever spread nationwide. Among emerging cities, Thiruvananthapuram, Surat and Rajkot recorded the strongest order growth. Smaller markets including Shillong, Agartala and Port Blair also showed significant appetite, underlining the expanding footprint of quick-commerce food delivery across India.
The surge reflects a growing trend of pairing major sporting events with doorstep delivery, turning big matches into shared, convenient celebrations. In a night where every boundary mattered, Swiggy proved the real MVP might just be the delivery partner who kept the snacks and the vibes flowing without missing a single wicket.
