Born in a family of industrialists, Aastha is a true-born entrepreneur. She was a student of Economics from the prestigious Hindu College of Delhi University after which she studied PGDM in Fashion Marketing from Pearl Academy of Fashion to pursue her passion in retail and branding. She is also an alumni of Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. She is a serial entrepreneur, who is always looking for solutions to simplify businesses – making them more productive and efficient. Prior to launching The New Shop, Aastha spearheaded a series of startups across diverse industries such as mobile gaming, online reputation management and consumer retail. While studying for a Bachelor’s, she joined her fatherās stock broking firm making her one of the youngest certified stock-brokers from National Stock Exchange. She has lived an adventurous life and has amassed 12 years of diversified experience in entertainment, finance, branding, and retail. Her interests and pursuits are also reflected in her well-rounded personality. Aastha has the capability of turning everything she touches into a profitable venture. Much like the Virgin Group of UK, Aastha enters every domain afresh but quickly disrupts & evolves the landscape of the chosen industry.
Mohit Khattar is Director and CEO, for Graviss Foods Pvt Ltd (GFPL), the master franchisee for Baskin Robbins in India and the SAARC region. He is responsible for growing and managing the business and the brand in this geography. Mohit has earned his spurs building several successful programs and customer centric initiatives for leading organisations, including Titan Watches, Reckitt Benckiser, T.I Cycles of India, Subhiksha and Godrej. He is actively involved as an advisor to New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE), to help New-Zealand based businesses enter India and scale their business here. He is also on the board of several food start-ups in the healthy eating as well as in the gourmet food space apart from being a mentor to budding entrepreneurs in the food retail space.
Rajeev has over 3 decades of rich experience both in the US & India in the retail, consumer & education industries. He has had the privilege of working at senior leadership levels at leading Global multinationals like Target Corp, Walmart, McKinsey & SPAR. He has a proven track record of blending the best of operations, product, technology, and innovation while building strong organizations and teams that have consistently delivered outstanding results. His journey with some of the top retailers in the world has been the foundation for his innovative and creative mindset, disruptive and cutting-edge merchandising strategies, operational and process orientation, and a creator of exceptional customer experiences. His ability to build strong partnerships with vendor partners across the ecosystem and globe has been at the forefront of developing new concepts, initiatives, and differentiated retail and consumer stories.
As a Business advisor, strategic guide and mentor Rajeev has had the opportunity to contribute and impact numerous small and medium businesses across the Consumer, Retail, and Education industries. He is a mentor and coach to many leaders and executives across levels, helping them develop their self-awareness, leadership, and Emotional Intelligence. Rajeev has been recognized as one of India’s most trusted and inspirational CEOs, as well as a CEO with HR orientation, for his passion, commitment, building trust, and strong organization.
K Radhakrishnan (āRadhaā), CEO, Starquik, has been a corporate citizen for four decades, of which for 25 years he has been a Grocery Retailer.He began his career as a tea taster, a tea retailer, an aquaculture farmer, and the one who started the now famous CupNoodles and TopRamen in India. He was part of the team that launched the first grocery modern trade store in the form of Foodworld Supermarkets in 1996 in Chennai, and has mentored several young people who are today all over the world and owe their deep understanding of retailing templates for grocery to him. He was also the first CEO of Reliance Retail Start-Up and launched the Fresh and Hyper Format in Hyderabad 2006, being involved from day one to taking it to over 1000 stores. Radha is a postgrad in mathematical economics, a Trustee in Sankalp Special school for Autistic and Learning disabled children for the last 20 years, has been a Karate National Champion, and a State level Hockey player.
Sameer holds an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and is a serial entrepreneur with profitable ventures in multiple geographies in the US, Central Asia & India in diverse businesses such as commodities trading, oil & gas service & real estate.