Alumni News
Celebrating IIMB alumni named among The Economic Times 40 Under Forty
Four IIM Bangalore alumni have been recognised among The Economic Times 40 Under Forty, which celebrates young leaders making their mark across India’s business landscape.
Mohit Arora (MBA 2012), Managing Director at Blackstone, Parul Bajaj (MBA 2010), MD and Partner at Boston Consulting Group, Karan Dhall (MBA 2011), Partner and Head of the Retail Sector at Kearney India, and Piyush Goswami (MBA 2014), Partner at Bain & Company, feature in this year’s list.
Their profiles offer more than a snapshot of their professional achievements. Mohit speaks of building something that outlasts his involvement, while Parul sees success in how much she can do today that she could not have done two years ago. Karan reflects on the people he has worked with and helped develop over 15 years, and Piyush measures success through the growth of the people and organisations he works with.
Congratulations to our alumni on this recognition. We are proud to see their journeys and achievements represented on this platform.
Mansi Baranwal (PGP 2012) discusses children’s nutrition on Ryan Fernando’s podcast
IIM Bangalore alumna Mansi Baranwal (PGP 2012), founder of Troovy, recently featured on an episode of nutritionist and health coach Ryan Fernando’s podcast, where she spoke about an everyday concern for parents: what goes into the packaged food children eat.
The conversation looks at how parents can read food labels more carefully, identify hidden sugars and additives, and make more informed choices when buying snacks and other packaged foods for their children.
Mansi founded Troovy with a focus on making better nutrition more accessible to children and families. Her work with the kids’ nutrition brand has previously featured in LSquare, including an Alumni Ventures interview exploring the origins and mission behind Troovy.
The latest conversation adds another dimension to that work, bringing the discussion directly to parents and the everyday choices they make around their children’s food.
Watch the full conversation: YouTube Link
From IIMB to the Top 200: Alumnae-led FlexiBees makes its mark
FlexiBees, co-founded by Shreya Prakash and Rashmi Rammohan, both PGP 2008 alumni of IIM Bangalore, has been shortlisted among the Top 200 startups in the UAE-India Start-Up Series 2.0, from more than 11,000 applications.
The recognition is a milestone for the venture founded by the three IIMB batchmates in 2017. FlexiBees is a talent platform that connects businesses with experienced women professionals through flexible, part-time, remote and project-based opportunities.
The three founders, who have backgrounds spanning marketing, technology, consumer insights, consulting and talent management, came together around a shared concern about the challenges faced by women trying to return to the workforce after career breaks.
Shreya shared the latest recognition on LinkedIn, celebrating FlexiBees’ selection among the Top 200 startups.
Congratulations to Shreya, Rashmi, and the FlexiBees team on the recognition.
Sonal Nayak (PhD 2026) receives AOM ONE Best Dissertation Award 2026
Dr. Sonal Nayak, a 2026 doctoral programme alumna from IIM Bangalore’s Strategy Area, has received the AOM ONE Best Dissertation Award 2026 from the Organizations and the Natural Environment (ONE) Division of the Academy of Management. The award was presented at the AOM Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, USA.
Her award-winning dissertation, Essays on Strategies for Sustainable Entrepreneurship, examines how sustainability-focused startups navigate funding, market legitimacy and organizational identity to achieve long-term growth.
Drawing on a multi-source dataset from the US food and agriculture sector, the research explores how sustainability trends influence venture capital investment and how startups positioned across the farm-to-fork value chain attract funding. Another essay examines how vegan startups develop organizational identities by selectively incorporating different motivations behind veganism, using extensive AI/ML-based analysis.
Dr. Sonal completed her dissertation under the guidance of Prof. P. D. Jose, Prof. Vijay Venkataraman and Prof. Ludvig Levasseur. Her research has also been presented at leading global conferences including AOM, EGOS and SMS.
PhD alumnus Dr. Gopinath Annadurai publishes research in JEBO on first-generation education policy
Dr. Gopinath Annadurai, an IIM Bangalore PhD alumnus, has co-authored a study published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization (JEBO), examining the impact of Tamil Nadu’s First-Generation Graduate Scholarship scheme on education, employment and intergenerational mobility. The study was co-authored with Prof. Soham Sahoo, Chairperson, Public Policy area at IIMB.
The policy waived tuition fees for first-generation college students pursuing technical education. Using household survey data and difference-in-differences and synthetic difference-in-differences methods, the researchers found that the scheme led to substantial increases in enrolment and graduation in technical courses, while also influencing students’ choice of technical streams.
The study also found gains in regular employment, occupational choices and household welfare among students covered by the scheme, highlighting the wider effects of improving access to technical education.
Dr. Gopinath completed his PhD at IIMB earlier this year and was also an N.S. Ramaswamy Pre-doctoral Fellow. The research formed his job market paper. He has since joined IIM Udaipur as faculty in Economics and Development Studies.
