IIMB announces the names of its Distinguished Alumnus Awards 2022 recipients

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore has announced the recipients of the IIMB Distinguished Alumni Awards for 2022. Instituted in 2007, the 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 awards will be given during the pre-convocation day celebrations.

Four alums 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.

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. 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.

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, Behavioural Finance and Corporate Governance. He also holds editorial positions in prestigious academic journals. Rau is the co-founder of the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance. He is also the past President of the European Finance Association (EFA). An outstanding scholar, teacher, mentor and role model to young scholars, 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.

Apurva Purohit has crafted a 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 The Times of India’s entry strategy into television. 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, 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. 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. Gupta has also made 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.