Pathbreaking Founder And CEO’s To Watch Out

1. Aankith Aroraa, CEO, Streamline Beauty India Private Limited 
Aankith Aroraa, the CEO of Streamline Beauty India Private Limited is redefining the distribution of Salon Professional Range of products in India. He has a penchant for taking up challenges, and his ability to learn new things alongside his enthusiasm for building brands is inspiring. 

The company has remained one of the leaders of the salon professional segment in India now for decades. Aankith's journey within the business world started as a super stockist for Reynold Ball Pens/Refills and also distributors for Procter & Gamble FMCG products. 

A visionary with a desire to build a strong distribution business. A strategic thinker, he has spearheaded the way for Streamline Beauty India Private Limited. The company proudly represents market leaders like Olaplex, and Kevin Murphy and has developed 5 homegrown pedicure brands under the umbrella of Saniolla Naturals Pvt Ltd.

2. Pardeep Sharma, COO, ABROS Sports International
Pradeep Sharma is the COO of ABROS Sports International that has become one of India’s fastest growing Indian footwear brand, offering the trendiest, freshest, and most durable footwear. Pardeep is a Commerce graduate and is having more than a decade of experience in operations and business management.  

ABROS core is Sports and Lifestyle Shoes, Sandals, & Slippers for all age groups and genders. ABROS started its journey in Feb, 2021 and has works with the Mission of “bringing comfortable, highly functional yet affordable footwear to the world”. In a very short span of time ABROS has crossed 250 Crore+ Sales, has established its presence in PAN India with 60+ distributors and 10000+ Multi Brand Outlets. Abros is also present on all leading Ecommerce platforms + Large format stores i.e. Stelatoes, Kins & Wings Etc. Mr. Sharma is an eloquent talker and a deal maker.

3. Kunal Khanna, Founder, Vivaldis Animal Healthcare
Kunal Khanna, Founder CEO of Vivaldis Health and Foods Pvt Ltd, trained his lens on animal healthcare at a time when most businesses would rather not. The astute entrepreneur, however, had already identified its hidden potential and was determined to unlock it in order to improve the care, cure and management of animal health, this is what birthed Vivaldis Health and Foods Pvt Ltd seven years ago. 

Kunal has nurtured and grown the company to its current formidable avatar. Drawing from his rich experience in human healthcare, he has been able to innovate and create path-breaking treatment options. The company’s product basket comprises a unique range of lifestyle disease management products and enzyme-based novel formulations, which maximise health, agility, productivity and performance of companion animals. 

The scenario on the home turf was also undergoing a change with rising pet ownership as well as per capita spend on pets. He already has a pipeline of products for the next five years that is already in place. His recent foray into the B2C segment with ‘Bark Out Loud’, a range of unique treats, is an extension of his vision to harness opportunities in the pet space.

4. Pranit Parekar, Co-founder & CTO, VTRO Motors Pvt ltd
Pranit Parekar, has a passion for solving complex algorithms and creating efficient solutions and believes that the core idea for product innovation should seed from the intent to improve or enhance the life of the customer. 

To do so, one needs to go deep into consumer insights and explore possible solutions to build products that disrupt. Riding on this mantra, Pranit carved a niche for himself in the automation field with some disruptive products in Skroman Global, an immensely successful first-generation business build on his own. 

Now, he forays into the EV segment and paving the way for Indian EV industry with V-TRO MOTORS, an indigenous brand, built in Pune, for riding the world. VTRO is looking to address key challenges consumers face with EV, by installing charging cum swapping across the city, providing standardized charger, plot dedicate parking spots and offer custom made rental packages for EV and battery use. In addition, Pranit wishes to pave the way for emission free EV commute through V-TRO.

5. Mukul Gugle, Co-Founder, Alaric Design Pvt. Ltd
Starting with a thought that led to a dream and ultimately channelled into a vision to disrupt the gaming industry, led childhood friends and co-founders Mukul Gugle and Mayur Hajare to establish Alaric Design Pvt. Ltd. Alaric is focused on enhancing gaming experiences, while making a lifestyle statement that captures the core emotions of passionate gamers and creators, through its line of radical flagship product series. 

Set to hit the APAC consumer market by the end of 2023, the game-stations under development have already captured the imagination of aspiring and professional gamers who have tested out the initial prototypes. 

The product R&D team at Alaric realized the limitations in the existing approach and recognized that the table setup space presents a lot of opportunities to innovate in the overall user experience. The current series of game-stations named OneWire has two versions which focus on the core USPs - Clutter free wire management, powered with voice assistant, multi-device syncing capability, customisable User Experience, convertible, Space Saving & Organized.

6. Prof. Dr. Raj Nagarkar, MD & Chief of Surgical Oncology and Robotic Services, HCG Manavata Cancer Centre
Prof Dr Raj Nagarkar is a renowned name in the field of Oncology and is one of the foremost cancer cares & treatment doctor in India, and among the best in the world. He received his surgical oncology training from the prestigious Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai followed by MRCS at the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh. His main area of interest is in Breast and Thoracic Surgical Oncology. 

He started his Surgical Oncology practise in the year 2000 and has performed more than half a Lakh cancer surgery. Dr. Nagarkar is passionate about technology and with a record of more than 700 successful robotic surgeries with Versius Robot under his belt, the Oncology fraternity kindly calls him ‘The most experienced Versius User in the world’. Expanding his vision to redefine the cancer-care and treatment services in India, Dr. Nagarakar launched HCG Manavata Cancer Centre Nashik in 2007. Today, as the single largest private Cancer Hospital in India, HCG Manavata is rapidly emerging as a leading academic centre and a global health destination hub.

7. Mitesh Bhandari, Co-Founder and Chief Financial Officer, IndiaShoppe.com
Mitesh Bhandari is the Co-Founder and CFO of IndiaShoppe.com. India Shoppe made its foray into the retail market in Aug’13, with a state-of-the-art e-commerce portal, followed by its maiden showroom in Chennai.   IndiaShoppe’ offers Ayurveda based health and wellness products across the country with a focus on in tier2 and tier-3 cities.

With a vast range of products & services that are of premium quality, the company takes pride in its innovations which stems from being responsive to its customer’s needs. The company provides premium health & wellness products under several categories like beauty care, personal care, nutritional care, home care, and lifestyle products. 

Mitesh focuses on strategic team-building & business expansion, by developing new relations across various vendors, multiple markets and financial institutions, making India Shoppe one of the fastest growing Ayurveda-based D2C firms in the country. Being an MBA (finance) graduate Mitesh has recently upped his game becoming a Level2, Chartered Financial Analyst. India Shoppe is soon to enter International Markets as well.

8. Sahil Malik, Managing Director, Da Milano
Sahil Malik, created the brands Da Milano and Rosso Brunello, leading brands for leather goods, accessories and footwear respectively. Da Milano operates a total of 77 stores across India and overseas which includes company operated 16 stores at 12 airports of India, one store in Nepal and 7 in UAE. 

The stores have a contemporary feel and are designed to deliver an extraordinary experience to the customers. At the age of 40, Sahil Malik has built a brand which competes to none and is at par with many leading international brands. The brand offers luxurious accessories that are built on the foundation of functionality, durability, and creative design. Sahil aims to extend the brand’s footprints to the South East Asian market by the end of 2023, including Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and further parts of the U.K. He aspires to open multiple stores across the globe and reach out to discerning clientele of all age groups and income levels.

He has been honoured with many awards and accolades including Dynamic Retailer of the Year award at ET Now Global Awards for Retail Excellence, Times Power Icon and many more awards for his work.

9. Archisman Misra, Founder and CEO, Studiobackdrops.com
Archisman Misra is the Founder and CEO of Studiobackdrops.com, India’s largest photography and videography solutions brand. He himself is a photographer & cinematographer and has worked with some of India's biggest agencies to create campaigns for global brands like Motorola, Lenovo, Panasonic, Pepsico etc. 

Archisman taught himself photography through experimenting with the medium and YouTube. During this time, he felt that the tools available to photographers in India were very limited when compared to the international markets. He wanted his peers and future generations of photographers to have better access to tools and equipment at affordable prices. 

This idea is what gave birth to Studiobackdrops.com in 2016, when studio photography solutions in India were far and few. Studiobackdrops.com was founded with the goal of giving the community of creators and creative professionals’ access to better tools and equipment at affordable prices. StudioBackdrops.com has been disrupting the imaging market in India for the last 6 years by offering quality products at unbeatable prices, all curated by professionals. 

Archisman is also a social activist who believes in transforming society with positive decisions and actions.

10. Ritesh D. Ritelin, Founder, Manzuri & Porcellia
Ritesh D. Ritelin, an up & coming name in the Indian D2C space has now embarked on a journey to make Manzuri India’s top sexual wellness startup. Ritesh brings forth authenticity in his work, with a playful and hippie-sque approach to capitalism. 

As a personal principle, Ritesh only involves himself in projects which can truly improve the lives of the Indian consumer, no matter how tall the ask. Riding on this mantra, he has been associated with some of the country’s top sexual wellness startups for women, and personal care brands, and after a successful exit from his previous startup in 2020, he is now trying to change the face of the Indian sex-tech landscape. 

Manzuri aims to democratise pleasure and destigmatize sex, making it a dinner table conversation for all. Their range of quirky adult products combined with a fun, yet knowledge-driven approach to sex education shows Ritesh’s personality of solving complex and serious social/business issues with humour, play and innovation, with an air of nonchalance.