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Canadian digital accessories brand Hip Street enters India
MUMBAI: Hip Street, a Canadian consumer electronics company which also deals with related products, has forayed into the Indian market.
With this, the company is going to make its full array of IT Peripherals, Telecom and Lifestyle digital accessories available in India.
Hip Street is also an exclusive licensee from Disney for certain product categories in India.
The company has already taken on board Sukhesh Madaan, Sandeep Ramani and Sanjeev Ariaratnam as GM- South East Asia, Country Manager-India and Country Manager-Sri Lanka respectively. Together they will be driving the growth of Hip Street in SAARC.
Hip Street president Mohit Kripalani said, “We have been steadily expanding our presence across the globe and India is yet another significant milestone in our rapidly growing international footprint. Our entry into Indian market allows us to cement our commitment to the region and work more closely with our customers and partners in this all important market.”
Hip Street GM- South Asia Sukhesh Madaan said, “Our Indian operations are most strategic for the success of Hipstreet globally. With the rapid growth of Telecom, IT and Internet, the market and consumer aspirations in India are scaling new heights. Indian offer a unique challenge of providing best of the quality and innovative products at most effective price and we are hopeful with our strong R&D facility in Canada we will remain able to come at par with those expectations.”
In the first year of its operation, Hip Street is looking at expanding the channel partner base and strengthening its market presence. Through their distribution partners-Global Infonet and Fortune Marketing-their range of products will be available across channel and large format retailers. In addition, the organisation will be spending considerable amount on innovative marketing to build the brand in the region.
Hip Street offers products ranging from digital audio accessories to a complete range of audio, wireless, mobile and video accessories.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
