AnyMind Group reveals board of directors and adds to management team

AnyMind Group, a technology company in the marketing, entertainment, HR and direct-to-consumer industries, has announced the appointment of Vaibhav Odhekar to its board of directors, and Siddharth Kelkar, Aditya Aima and Dinesh Kailash Kumar to its management team as managing directors.

Odhekar will continue to lead India and the Middle East for AnyMind Group, and will join other board of director members: Kosuke Sogo, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of AnyMind Group, Rohit Sharma, Chief Operating Officer of AnyMind Group, Otohiko Kozutsumi, Chief Commercial Officer and co-founder of AnyMind Group, and Keizo Okawa, Chief Financial Officer of AnyMind Group.

AnyMind Group’s board of directors also includes external officers: Shogo Ikeuchi, Advisor to Board of Directors for Recruit Holdings Co Ltd, Supriya Singh, Head of South Asia Investments for JAFCO Asia, and Hak Kim, Portfolio Manager for SPARX Group.

On the appointment of Odhekar to AnyMind Group’s board of directors, Kosuke Sogo, CEO and co-founder of AnyMind Group, said: “We have put together a strong team, and Vaibhav will undoubtedly enhance this team even more. We are just about to start a new era of growth, and the combined strengths of our board of directors and management team will propel us further forward.”

Additionally, the company announced three additions to its management team. All three joined AnyMind Group from POKKT Mobile Ads after the latter was acquired by AnyMind Group in March 2020.

Siddharth Kelkar has been appointed as Managing Director, Performance Business. He will be responsible for equipping performance marketers with the right set of tools by AnyMind Group globally, including offerings by POKKT Mobile Ads, AdAsia and CastingAsia. Before joining POKKT Mobile Ads, Kelkar held leadership roles in SVG Media, CNBC TV18, The Times Group and Reliance Games.

On his appointment, Kelkar said: “The mobile app industry is growing exponentially, and with the combined strengths of our supply platform, technology and the right set of talent, our objective is to create a successful growth story globally. I am delighted for this opportunity that allows us to further strengthen AnyMind Group’s position and fulfil advertisers’ expectations in global markets.”

Aditya Aima has been appointed as Managing Director, Agency Business, and provides marketing, creative and advertising agencies in Southeast Asia with the right capabilities across AnyMind Group’s suite of solutions. Aima formerly held leadership positions in Culture Machine Media, Astro Malaysia, Bloomberg TV and Turner Broadcasting System.

Aima said: “In this ever-evolving world of advertising and in these unprecedented times, there is a greater responsibility for all media practitioners to shoulder. With a visionary leadership team at AnyMind Group and our best-in-class suite of tech products, I am more than confident of delivering value and growth to our agency partners across the region.”

Dinesh Kailash Kumar is now Managing Director, Product, with a main focus on POKKT Mobile Ads’ products. He previously held product-related roles in InMobi, Microsoft IDC Bangalore, Yahoo!, Conformia Software Labs and IonIdea.

Kumar said: “We have experienced an inflection point in consumer behaviour patterns and expectations of our customers. In my role at AnyMind Group, I look forward to leveraging POKKT’s technical expertise to build product offerings that delight our customers by exceeding their evolving expectations.”

On the three appointments to AnyMind Group’s management team, Sogo said: “Our management team consists of entrepreneurs and vertical experts, and Siddharth, Aditya and Dinesh can now bring their own unique qualities and expertise to the table. With such a vastly expanded business, this move allows us to focus on expanding our existing market share whilst looking at new opportunities for further growth.”

Since starting operations just over four years ago, AnyMind Group has expanded into four industries, operates across 17 offices in 13 markets with a headcount of over 750 staff, made five acquisitions, and raised a total funding of US$62.3 million.