Investor Relations

Board of Directors

 

Mr. Dilip Modi, Chairman

Mr. Dilip Modi was appointed to the Board on 21stAugust, 2006 as the Director of the Company and has been its Chairman since 18thFebruary, 2014 and was re-designated as Non-Executive Chairman w.e.f. 1stOctober, 2019. Mr. Modi is one of India’s most successful second-generation entrepreneurs and has pioneered several new technologies in the mobility and technology sector in India. Mr. Modi is passionate about creating usable and affordable technologies that can help improve the lives of people.

In the last two decades, he created a strong portfolio of businesses within the mobility and technology sector, starting from successfully launching India’s first mobile service – Modi Telstra in 1995 that also hosted the very first mobile phone call made in India. After a successful divestment of Modi Telstra in the year 2000, he launched Spice Communications in Punjab and Karnataka, which soon became one of the most valuable and enduring brands in the two highly profitable mobile markets of the country.

Mr. Modi has also been closely involved in industry forums and has held the position of Chairman of the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and has had the honour of being the youngest President of ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce). He has worked on key industry programmes, which includes ‘Making Inclusive Transformation Happen.’ His efforts in the industry were duly recognised as he was conferred the ‘Youth Icon Award’ by the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Driven by the firm belief that technology can become a key enabler for achieving inclusive growth in the country, his group’s current business interests in the fintech space exemplify this vision by furthering the digital and financial inclusion goals.

An alumnus of the prestigious Imperial College, London, Mr. Modi completed his Master’s in Business Administration with a specialisation in Finance. He also holds a First Class in Bachelor’s of Science in Management Technology from Brunel University, London.

He is a Whole-time Director in Spice Connect Private Limited and holds the office of Chief Executive Officer in Spice Money Limited. He also holds directorship in E-Arth Techventures Private Limited, Vikasni Fintech Private Limited and Shubh Karma Ventures Private Limited.

Mr. Rohit Ahuja, Executive Director

Mr. Rohit Ahuja was appointed on the Board on 5th May, 2020 as an Executive Director. Mr. Ahuja has been an entrepreneur, strategic advisor and perpetual investor helping technology - first companies grow and scale. During his entrepreneurial journey of 25+ years, he has been the founder of many successful businesses and carries hands-on experience in setting up and managing all aspects of the business (operations, sales, finance and people management), acquiring, turning around and managing/ running multiple companies across various sectors.

Mr. Ahuja became the Founder and Managing Director of a manufacturing facility, Menthol India, for mint-based products and aromatic chemicals, and had set up a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for mint products with Sulzer, Germany. He also represented Indian Menthol Exporters in prestigious IFEAT conferences. Mr. Ahuja also served as a Managing Director a non-banking finance company, Trozen Finance and Securities Pvt. Ltd., which specialised in real estate finance and investments. He has been the Founder and CEO of an IATA accredited travel and tourism company, Odyssey World, which became the leading hospitality company in India serving judiciary, Government officials and diplomats. He was also the Founder and Managing Director of super specialty medical centre, Empathy Medcare Pvt. Ltd., which had OPD, IPD by full time doctors from FORTIS Healthcare and pathology lab by Dr. Lal Path Labs, providing full medical treatment.

Mr. Ahuja has been associated with the Company since 2015 and has been instrumental in defining strategy, growth and operational plans for strategic projects of the Group. He plays a key role in business development in new geographies for the group and also heads key strategic projects undertaken by Chairman Office. Mr. Ahuja completed his Bachelor’s of Science in Accounting and Finance from USA in the year 1997.

Mr. Ahuja is also a director in Vikasni Fintech Private Limited.

Mr. Venkatramu Jayanthi, Non – Executive Director

Mr. Venkatramu Jayanthi is a distinguished banking professional with an impressive 25-year career spanning across key functional domains of Banking. Specialized in the areas of Business Strategy, Rural & Inclusive Banking and the Digital Banking domain. With a track record that demonstrates a proven ability to successfully lead and manage New Businesses focused on Digital Financial Services and innovative business models resulting in substantial business growth. Enthusiastic about harnessing technology to reshape the landscape of financial products. Known for creating collaborative work environments fostering creativity.

As the MD & CEO of India Post Payment Bank, he orchestrated a transformative journey by strategically leveraging the extensive legacy Postal Network. Through innovative initiatives, that not only guided the bank towards profitability but also positioned it as a unique player in the competitive financial sector, particularly in underserved Rural Markets.

With over 25 years of hands-on experience in banking, His expertise lies in Rural & Inclusive Banking and digital Banking, successfully launching new businesses and gliding them along a profitable path. His leadership journey is marked by a demonstrated ability to navigate the dynamic landscape of the banking industry, create winning teams, and successfully bring out the best in each team member ensuring adaptability and success in an ever-evolving sector.

He also holds office of Executive Director and Chief Business Officer in Spice Money Limited.

Mr. Subramanian Murali, Non – Executive Director

Mr. Subramanian Murali was appointed on the Board on 7thMay 2015 as Non-Executive Director. He was associated with leading organizations such as A.F. Ferguson and HCL Group of companies in several senior positions.

Over more than 36 years of experience in industries like IT, Office automation, Telecom and Mobility, he has gained extensive knowledge and expertise in the areas of fund raising, M&As, Business restructuring, Process Re-engineering, Business turnarounds, Corporate Finance and Management.

Presently, Mr. Murali is Executive Director-Finance of Spice Connect Private Limited, Company’s holding company and oversees the entire group’s finance function. He has been associated with the group for 14 years and is actively involved in Shareholders value creation, Business planning, Corporate finance, Capital allocation, Treasury management, Management review and overall productivity of all resources within the Spice Connect Group.

His association with the group helped in managing different business cycles ranging from startups, steady state growth, rapid and exponential growth, slowdowns and closures. Mr. Murali is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

Mr. Murali is a Whole-time Director in Spice Connect Private Limited.

Mr. Mrutyunjay Mahapatra, Independent Director

Mr. Mrutyunjay Mahapatra has over 3 decades of experience in senior leadership positions in General Management and diverse areas of IT, Innovation, Strategy, Decision support Systems, Corporate Banking, International Banking, syndications, Private Equity, Investments, Credit appraisal and Administration, Retail banking and Branch Management, Forex Operations, Client Relationship Management and Personnel Management in the Banking Sector. He spent the majority of his career with State Bank of India, the largest public sector bank in India, retiring as the Deputy Managing Director, Digital Strategy & Technology. He has nearly 8 years of overseas experience in senior and country head positions in USA and UK. Multifarious international exposure through Loan, investment and M&A deals, working in global boards, wide travels and advisory roles. He was a former CEO of Syndicate Bank and worked in the boards of Canara Bank, C-edge (An IT company which is a JV of TCS), NPCI (National Payment Corporation of India), DSCI, SBI California, SBI Canada. He has also worked in the board of IIFCL UK (An overseas infra funding company) as GOI nominee. He was in the Customer Advisory boards of CISCO, HP, Red hat-Linux, Infosys-Finacle. He worked as the Chairman of the Fintech group of AIMFAI (All India Mobile and Fintech Association of India) and Chairman of Indian Bank’s CIO council of IDRBT. Mr. Mahapatra is well known speaker in Industry and public events and regular columnist in leading Economic newspaper and magazines. He is also Visiting Professor of Banking and Finance in Manipal University teaching MBA classes on Technology, Leadership and Finance. On the academic front, Mr. Mahapatra holds Masters of Science (Physics), Advanced Diploma in Management, Diploma in Industrial Finance. He is a Certified Financial Planner, Honorary Fellow of Indian Institute of Bankers, distinguished Alumnus of Berhampur University.

Mr. Mahapatra holds directorship in NTT Data Payment Services India Private Limited, Srinivasa Farms Private Limited, Kalinga Commercial Corporation Limited, Prodevans Technologies Private Limited, Encore Asset Reconstruction Company Private Limited, Transaction Analysts (India) Private Limited, Netweb Technologies India Limited, Reserve Bank Innovation Hub, Spice Money Limited, Reliance Nippon Life Insurance Company Limited, Quantum Asset Management Company Private Limited, Mayfair Hotels & Resorts Limited, NSEIT Limited and Scoreme Solutions Private Limited.

Mr. Ram Nirankar Rastogi, Independent Director

Mr. Ram Nirankar Rastogi is a seasoned Career Banker and a proficient Digital Payments Strategist with a deep understanding of cutting-edge digital technologies employed in payments, real-time decision-making, risk management, predictive analysis, and Regtech.

Currently serving as the Chairman of the Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment (FACE), a non-profit organization dedicated to articulating the common concerns of Consumer Lending FinTech companies to regulators, media, distribution platforms (such as Google Play Store), and other external stakeholders.

With an extensive banking career spanning three decades, Mr. Rastogi held key roles at the State Bank of India, where he functioned as a senior executive overseeing Strategy, Business Development, ATMs, Debit Cards, and Emerging Payment Systems. During his tenure as the Head of Product Development at the National Payments Corporation of India (2011-2017), he played a pivotal role in mentoring the development of real-time payment systems in India, including the Immediate Payments Service (IMPS), Unified Payments Interface (UPI), AEPS, Cross-Border Payments, Bharat Bill Payments System (BBPS), and other offline payment systems, ensuring their adherence to regulatory compliance.

Mr. Rastogi's engagement extends to close collaboration with regulatory bodies such as the RBI and TRAI, various government departments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), public policy committees, and stakeholders in the FinTech industry, fostering the creation of comprehensive ecosystems.

Mr. Rastogi holds directorship in Network People Services Technologies Limited, Finiverse Aggregator Private Limited, IIFL Open Fintech Private Limited, Yes Securities (India) Limited, Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment, Eroute Technologies Private Limited and Unimoni Financial Services Limited.

Mr. Mayank Jain, Independent Director

Mr. Mayank Jain was appointed to the Board on 1stOctober 2019 as an Independent Director. Mr. Mayank started his career with Tata Motors and worked for two years in both Jamshedpur and Pune. Mr. Mayank then worked at one of the big 4 consulting firms in Toronto, Deloitte Consulting. Here he helped several clients in the mining industry in Northern Ontario to streamline and improve their business processes. He also assisted Bell Canada establish their new billing system for Broadband services.

After his stint at Deloitte, Mr. Mayank went on to join Siebel Systems in the United States, the largest Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Company in the world. Siebel also became the fastest growing company globally during the early 2000s. Mr. Mayank held the position of Senior Director of Products for Automotive and Manufacturing industries for a number of years with Siebel.

In 2006, Mr. Mayank moved back home to India to pursue business opportunities, and over the last few years, he has built an internet and Cyber Security business spanning across 5 States in India and growing at a very fast pace. His company also partners with Facebook Express WiFi Project providing WiFi Services to many offices, hospitals, malls and outdoor customers.

Mr. Mayank has done Bachelor in Engineering. Also, Mr. Mayank holds the degree of MBA from Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. Mr. Mayank holds the distinction of being named to the Dean’s Honour List in his MBA class.

Mr. Jain holds directorship in BDM Projects Private Limited, Netvision Awadh Networks Private Limited, True North Visa and Immigration Services Private Limited and Technobile Systems Private Limited.

Mr. Pankaj Vaish, Independent Director

Mr. Pankaj Vaish has more than 39 years of experience in Technology led transformation, Management Consulting, Leadership Development, B2B sales and outsourcing, with more than 28 years with Accenture, where he built businesses from scratch and scaled them globally.

Pankaj is an experienced Board Director. He is and has been a Board Director at many listed / unlisted companies over the past 10+ years. He is a Certified Independent Director. He also mentors growth stage companies / SMEs across industries.

His career began in 1985 with Accenture and was a founding member of Accenture India. When he left as MD in 2014, he was part of the global leadership of the Communications, Media & Technology (CMT) business, where he was MD, Asia Pacific and Global MD, Management Consulting.

Mr. Vaish has done his MBA from the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA and holds a bachelor of technology degree in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi (IIT-BHU). He is a Gold Medalist from IIT-BHU and has been awarded the Distinguished Alumni award by the IIT-BHU Alumni Association for the year 2011-12.

Mr. Vaish holds directorship in 360 One Wam Limited and Xchanging Solutions Limited.

Mrs. Veena Vikas Mankar, Independent Director

Ms. Veena Vikas Mankar has over four decades of experience in banking & financial service and has been actively engaged in micro banking for over a decade. She started her career with ICICI Ltd. (the precursor to the Bank) and has worked with leading financial institutions including Emirates Bank in Dubai, West LB group, Germany and FimBank, Malta.

She also served as an Independent Non - Executive Chairperson of IDFC First Bank Limited. She is the founder of two entities Swadhaar FinAccess (a non-profit entity) and Swadhaar FinServe Pvt Limited, an MFI now RBL FinServe Ltd. (subsidiary of RBL Bank).

Currently, Ms. Veena Vikas Mankar holds directorship in RBL Bank Limited, Artha-India Research Advisors Private Limited, Spice Money Limited, Swadhaar FinAccess, PB Fintech Limited and Paisabazaar Marketing and Consulting Private Limited. She is also a member of the SRO Committee at MFIN.

Ms. Veena Vikas Mankar holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in Economics (H) and is also a post-graduate diploma in management from the IIM, Ahmedabad.