IIMB announces DAA Awards 2022
Vipul Parekh, Raghavendra Rau, Apruva Purohit and Saugata Gupta are the four alums who will be feted at the pre-convocation day celebrations
Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) is delighted to announce the recipients of the IIMB Distinguished Alumni Awards for 2022. Instituted in 2007, the Distinguished Alumni Awards are given to alumni in recognition of their achievements of exceptional merit and excellence in their chosen field of endeavours – be it industry, management, entrepreneurship, research, academia, or social service. The DAA awards will be given during the pre-convocation day celebrations. Each DAA awardee receives a citation and his/her name is engraved on the wall of fame in the institute.
We have four alums who have been awarded the DAA this year: Vipul Parekh, PGP 1988, Co-Founder of Bigbasket.com; Raghavendra Rau, PGP 1989, Professor of Finance at the University of Cambridge; Apurva Purohit, PGP 1989, Co- Founder, Aazol and Saugata Gupta, PGP 1991, Managing Director and CEO, Marico Limited.
IIMB Director Professor Rishikesha T Krishnan congratulated the DAA recipients.
Vipul Parekh (PGP 1986-88)
Vipul Parekh is the Co-founder of Innovative Retail Concepts Private Ltd, better known as Bigbasket.com, and serves as its Chief Finance Officer and Chief Marketing Officer. After spending a decade in Marketing roles in TVS Electronics Limited and Wipro Limited, he turned entrepreneur when he co-founded Fabmart India Private Limited in 1999.
His foray into eCommerce as early as in 1999 marked him out to be an innovator and pioneer. With the online store Fabmart.com, he demonstrated the potential of horizontal eCommerce business which inspired many such internet start-ups and laid the foundation for a robust internet ecosystem in India. Through the offline store Fabmall, he created a modern format in the traditional grocery business, building it from scratch and engineering a zero-inventory warehousing model. Fabmall grew to become the fourth largest grocery retailer in a short span of time and eventually got well established under the brand name ‘More’ through an ownership transfer in 2007.
After a brief stint in a private equity firm, he returned to being an entrepreneur and co-founded his next venture, Bigbasket.com, in 2011. Heading the marketing and finance functions since inception, he has transformed Bigbasket into the third largest retailer in the country with more than 10 million customers and 30000 employees, accumulating credits for many industry-first innovations in the supply chain. One of the earliest to venture into online commerce, Vipul Parekh shines as a serial entrepreneur.
Raghavendra Rau (PGP 1987-89)
Raghavendra Rau is Sir Evelyn de Rothschild Professor of Finance at the University of Cambridge. His research papers have been published in top journals in the fields of Corporate Finance, Behavioral Finance and Corporate Governance. He also holds editorial positions in prestigious academic journals.
An outstanding scholar, teacher, mentor and role model to young scholars, Raghavendra Rau has taught in a number of management schools in North America, Europe and India. These include: the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University, Anderson School of Management at UCLA, Hass School of Business at UC Berkeley and the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.
Raghavendra Rau is the Co-founder of the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance. He is also the past President of the European Finance Association (EFA).
Apurva Purohit (PGP 1987-89)
Apurva Purohit has crafted a brilliant career in the media and advertising space. She was President of Jagran Prakashan Limited. As Founder of Lodestar, she is credited with bringing into the country the concept of media buying and building Lodestar to be counted as the top five media houses in the country. After heading the turnaround effort at Zee Telefilms, she spearheaded Times of India’s entry strategy into Television. Thanks to her people-oriented decade long leadership at Radio City, the company has featured in the ‘Great Places to Work’ survey for nine years consecutively and was also amongst the ‘Best Places to Work in Asia’ in 2019. As President of Jagran Prakashan, she pivoted the group to focus on new-age emerging businesses.
Her commitment to social causes is exemplary, particularly for the cause of educating underprivileged children. Gender equality and empowerment of women are also causes dear to her. Her impactful books ‘Lady, You’re Not a Man’ and ‘Lady, You’re the Boss’ to encourage and empower women professionals demonstrate her influence and contribution to this larger cause. She was listed amongst the ‘Most Powerful Women in Business’ both by Business Today and Fortune India for many years.
Saugata Gupta (PGP 1989-91)
Saugata Gupta, Managing Director and CEO, Marico Limited, had served for nearly a decade in Marketing roles – both in India and abroad – at Cadbury India Limited (now Mondelez). After a four-year stint in ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, he joined Marico Limited as Head of Marketing in 2004, where he eventually rose to the position of Managing Director and CEO in 2014.
Saugata Gupta is the recipient of several awards related to corporate leadership and impactful achievement. He has been listed amongst India’s top 100 CEOs year after year by many business publications, such as Businessworld, Business Today and Forbes India. His leadership has also brought laurels to his organization Marico Limited which has been ranked highest amongst FMCG companies in the CRISIL ESG Performance Score ESGauge in 2021 and as one of the top ten companies with best corporate governance amongst all companies of the S&P BSE 100 index.
Saugata Gupta has also made visible contributions to society through his engagement with many organizations involved with a broad range of social causes, such as education of girl children and cultural entrepreneurship. He has been active in industry associations such as FICCI, Indian Society of Advertisers, Advertising Standards Council of India, etc., besides serving as jury member for many corporate awards.
