A seasoned finance professional with nearly two decades of experience across leading global hospitality brands, Chandra brings extensive expertise in financial management, strategic planning, compliance, business partnering, hotel openings, and operational excellence. In his new role, he will oversee the hotel’s financial strategy and governance, ensuring robust fiscal performance while supporting Fairmont Mumbai’s long-term growth ambitions.

Chandra joins Fairmont Mumbai following his tenure as Cluster Director of Finance at Kathmandu Marriott Hotel, Nepal, where he played a pivotal role in supporting business strategy, driving financial performance, and building high-performing finance teams across multiple properties. Throughout his career, he has held senior finance leadership positions with Marriott Hotels India; JW Marriott Bengaluru Prestige Golfshire Resort & Spa; The Ascott Limited; and The Raintree Hotels, among others.

At Fairmont Mumbai, Chandra will be responsible for steering financial planning and analysis, budgeting and forecasting, compliance, risk management, cost optimisation, and strategic decision-making. His extensive experience in hotel pre-openings, finance systems implementation, and process transformation will further support the property’s commitment to operational excellence and sustainable growth.

Speaking on his appointment, Chandra Sekhar D. said, “Fairmont Mumbai represents one of the most exciting luxury hospitality projects in the country today. I am delighted to join a team that is committed to setting new benchmarks in guest experience and service excellence. My focus will be on building a strong financial foundation that supports innovation, operational agility, and long-term value creation while enabling the hotel to achieve its ambitious growth objectives.”

Known for his collaborative leadership style and strong business acumen, Chandra has consistently partnered with operational teams to drive profitability, enhance efficiencies, and strengthen governance frameworks. His expertise spans budgeting and forecasting, financial reporting, audits, compliance, cost controls, and large-scale hotel openings across diverse hospitality markets.

Throughout his career, Chandra has successfully led finance functions during critical growth phases, implemented automation and fintech initiatives, and guided teams through complex operational and commercial challenges. His ability to blend strategic financial oversight with hands-on operational understanding has earned him recognition as a trusted advisor and business partner within the hospitality industry.

Beyond his professional accomplishments, Chandra is passionate about mentoring young professionals and enjoys teaching and playing chess. He is also an advocate for continuous learning and technology-driven innovation within finance functions.

With this appointment, Fairmont Mumbai reinforces its commitment to attracting industry-leading talent and building a leadership team capable of delivering exceptional guest experiences, operational excellence, and enduring business success.

“Chandra’s depth of financial expertise and progressive leadership experience make him a valuable addition to Fairmont Mumbai’s executive team. His strategic mindset and strong understanding of hospitality operations will play an important role in driving sustainable growth, operational agility, and long-term success for the hotel.” — Rajiv Kapoor, General Manager, Fairmont Mumbai & Roswyn, A Morgans Originals Hotel

About Fairmont Mumbai

Fairmont Mumbai opened its doors in April 2025 as Mumbai’s Grand Entrance—a dazzling destination where grandeur and extraordinary theatre meet the timeless elegance of the 1920s. Located near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, the hotel offers 446 luxurious rooms and suites, one of the city’s largest event spaces, and seamless connectivity for global travellers, corporate guests, and leisure seekers alike.

Designed to make special happen, the hotel blends legacy and innovation through exceptional dining, pioneering wellness, and thoughtful hospitality. At its heart is Blu Xone at Fairmont Spa and Longevity, India’s first longevity-focused wellness space in a luxury hotel—redefining modern self-care through personalised healing, rejuvenation, and purposeful living.

About Fairmont Hotels & Resorts

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is renowned for the international luxury hospitality brand’s unrivalled portfolio of more than 94 extraordinary hotels where grand moments of life, heartfelt pleasures, and personal milestones are celebrated and remembered long after any visit. From grand hotels to urban retreats, since 1907 Fairmont has created magnificent, meaningful, and unforgettable hotels, rich with character and deeply connected to the history, culture, and community of its destinations—renowned addresses such as The Plaza in New York City, The Savoy in London, Fairmont San Francisco, Fairmont Banff Springs in Canada, Fairmont Peace Hotel in Shanghai, Fairmont Doha, and Fairmont The Palm in Dubai. Fairmont hotels are the social epicenters of their cities—iconic gathering places where people, culture, and ideas converge. Famous for its engaging service, awe-inspiring public spaces, locally inspired cuisine, and iconic bars and lounges, Fairmont also takes great pride in its pioneering approach to hospitality and leadership in sustainability and responsible tourism practices. Fairmont is part of Accor, a world-leading hospitality group counting over 5,600 properties throughout more than 110 countries, and a participating brand in ALL, a booking platform and loyalty program providing access to a wide variety of rewards, services, and experiences.

This expansion aligns with the company’s robust growth in business and secure funding position, supporting its scaling efforts in manufacturing and infrastructure supply chain sectors, as mentioned in a statement.

At present, Moglix employs approximately 1600 individuals. In the ongoing financial year (2023-24), the company has welcomed around 400 new employees.

Rahul Garg, Founder and CEO, Moglix, said, “With a network of over 40 warehouses catering to 3000+ manufacturing plants in India and the Middle East, Moglix is positioned better than ever to accelerate the future of B2B commerce. Our continued focus areas are boosting technological innovation, building supply chain resilience, and attracting top-notch talent across the board to support millions of SMEs.”  

Sandeep Goel, Managing Director, Moglix, said, “To continue our high growth trajectory, we are expanding our teams with best-in-class talent across domains, especially professionals with hands-on experience in industrial and financing operations. This expansion provides us the right bandwidth to further penetrate our existing markets and venture into new geographies. With this hiring boost, we aim to add 500 new members to our fast-growing tribe by the end of 2024.”

Established in 2015 by Rahul Garg, an alumnus of IIT Kanpur and ISB, Moglix offers digital solutions and a supply chain network for maintenance, repair, operations (MRO), supplies, and indirect material procurement.

The CEO of SaveIN, Jitin Bhasin, stated that it is now time for the consumerization of healthcare, adding that SaveIN intends to “democratise how people access private healthcare.”

He claimed that SaveIN is witnessing “hyperbolic growth” and wants to become an on-demand, hyperlocal, recognized healthcare network that can be relied on.

“We are solving the problem of access, quality, and affordability – the three pillars of healthcare. So SaveIN is being built as a completely integrated ecosystem which is geared to solve these issues,” Bhasin told PTI.

The fintech startup focusing on healthcare offers services to customers looking for treatments in several fields, including hair, dermatology, dentistry, and alternative therapies like Ayurveda, ophthalmology, wellness, and fitness. The platform offers access to around 300 procedures. SaveIN is available at centres across 100 cities.

“We hope to grow 5X and are looking to expand our network to 15,000 health practitioners, clinics in the next year,” he said.

Within a year of its launch, SaveIN expanded its presence to about 3,000 healthcare partners (including clinics, healthcare providers, doctors, fitness centres, and alternative therapy centres) due to adopting a digital-led partnership expansion strategy.

To expand its reach in the healthcare domain, SaveIN will keep focusing on partnerships in the future.

“Since inception, SaveIN has processed over 1 lakh customer applications and helped those who were desirous of seeking finance for healthcare products and services across our partner locations,” Bhasin said, adding SaveIN is currently delivering a run rate of Rs 100 crore in annualized disbursals.

The company is looking at a 5 times growth, he said.

Popular medical treatments include hair transplants, body sculpting, weight loss, anti-aging, feature correction procedures, smile designing, dental aligners, orthodontics, lasik surgeries, diabetes reversal, physical training, yoga, and fitness memberships.

“We allow people to borrow up to Rs 2 lakh in a completely paperless, 100 per cent digital, fully compliant model with the RBI guidelines on digital lending in partnership with NBFC,” Bhasin said.

Customers can choose payment plans, and SaveIN helps with upfront payments to doctors. SaveIN charges commission from these healthcare partners.

Also, the SaveIN platform gathers data sets for risk assessment and quality assessment procedures based on consent.

“Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Gurugram, Chennai are leading cities when it comes to consumption. We have also seen good take up rate in tier-1 and tier-2 centers,” Bhasin said and pointed out that 70 per cent of the customers are between 25-45 yrs of age.

On whether the company is looking to raise more funds, Bhasin said SaveIN is currently well-capitalized. The company has raised $8 million in funding in the seed round.

“We are well capitalised and have raised arguably the largest seed round among healthcare-fintech startups, and that too in 2022, which was the most difficult year for venture capital investing. Having said that, we are growing aggressively and see a very large market opportunity,” Bhasin said.

The startup is positive on a unit economics basis, indicating it makes money on every new sale.

“Given our B2B2C go-to-market model, our customer acquisition costs are negligible, and that aids our unit economics profitability. We expect to add other forms of revenue as well in the coming year,” Bhasin added.

SaveIN complies with the Reserve Bank of India’s Digital Lending Guidelines, according to Bhasin.

“We are constituted as a Loan Service Provider and work in partnership with RBI-approved regulated lending entities (REs). We are already live with multiple NBFCs and presently integrating with other regulated entities, including banks,” Bhasin added.

He said the Kolkata-headquartered NBFC-MFI raised around Rs 800 crore in the current financial year ending this month.

“Our focus has been on loan book growth and expansion of branches. We are planning to raise around Rs 1,500 crore in the next fiscal,” VFS Capital MD and CEO Kuldip Maity said.

Since MFIs in India, unlike Bangladesh, are not allowed to raise deposits, borrowing costs are high, he said.

“We get access to funds only from banks and NBFCs,” Maity said. 

To a query, he said, “VFS does not have immediate plans” to apply for a licence to get a small finance bank (SFB) tag.

The Reserve Bank of India allows such SFBs to raise money from the public.

With a loan disbursement of around Rs 1,300 crore – 1,400 crores, VFS Capital expects to close the current fiscal year.

“We plan to scale up the loan book to Rs 2,500 crore in FY23-24,” Maity said. 

In FY22, it reported a loan book of Rs 805 crore.

Dinesh Kumar Khara, the Chairman of the State Bank of India, felicitated six rural women entrepreneurs and MFI borrowers at the event.

With a network of about 280 branches in 14 states, including West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan, the MFI currently serves approximately four lakhs women borrowers.

“This fiscal, we have opened 30 more branches, mostly in Bihar, MP, and Rajasthan. Our plan is to add 50 branches in FY23-24,” he said, adding that the company continues to explore new locations to serve the unbanked people and expand its footprint as a microfinance institution.

White Whale Venture Fund and other institutional investors also participated in this round. 

Besides expanding into new markets like Southeast Asia, the startup will use the raised capital to ramp up its tech stack and focus even more on its existing product portfolio. 

HDFC Bank increased its stake in this funding round from 5.20% to 7.75% for a cash consideration of $3.8 million (Rs 31.1 crore).

With this, Mintoak has raised $40 million in funding.

Mintoak, a merchant services Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform, was founded in 2017. It allows merchants and their banking partners to quickly scale and implement value-added services (payments, lending, engagement) to their SME customers.

From Rs 60 lakh in FY2020 to Rs 11.28 crore in FY22, Mintoak’s annual turnover increased. It claims to serve over 1.5 million merchants across banks, including HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, and YES Bank. It operates in international markets such as the Middle East and Africa.

“Mintoak’s modular platform with pay-per-use pricing is white-labelled for each banking partner, which makes the entire proposition attractive to banks. I am thrilled to have some of the world’s most trusted brands place their faith in our product, team, and delivery,” said Raman Khanduja, CEO and Co-founder of Mintoak.

“Mintoak allows banks to offer a user-friendly, intuitive payments and commerce platform for merchants in developing nations through SaaS. We look forward to the next stage of Mintoak’s growth journey,” said Ashish Aggarwal, Partner, PayPal Ventures.

Krishna has over 27 years of experience in client engagement, business transformation, data analytics, digital transformation, and finance. He previously worked as Accenture’s Managing Director and was in charge of the company’s Chennai operations. Before that, he held various roles at Royal Philips, Allianz, KPMG, and Vodafone.

TVS Capital Funds backs technology-driven companies in the financial and B2B services sectors. TVS Capital Funds has raised a total of over Rs 3,500 crore for three funds.

Commenting on Krishna’s joining, Gopal Srinivasan, CMD of TVS Capital Funds, said, “Krishna comes with a wide spectrum of operating experience and significant exposure to digital transformation initiatives. This is of deep value for us at TVS Capital, where we partner with next-gen entrepreneurs in business building, especially those in the venture growth stage. Krishna’s multidisciplinary experience across businesses will help drive value to our portfolio companies. It also significantly strengthens our internal initiatives in building a “neo TCF”, which will help scale the fund to the next level.”

Krishna Ramachandran, the Managing Partner and COO of TVS Capital Funds, said, “We have great opportunities in making India a leader in digital platforms of scale in areas of finance and banking. I am delighted to be part of this journey with TVS Capital Funds in empowering next-gen entrepreneurs and, thereby, supporting the larger cause of nation-building.”

With a strong technology platform and a skilled team, the acquisition gives InCred Money assets under management (AuM) of more than ₹1,100 cr. According to the statement, the co-founder of Orowealth, Vijay Kuppa, will now serve as the CEO of InCred Money.

“This will be InCred Capital’s second pillar in the fast-growing Indian wealth market, following its previous success in the Ultra / High Net Worth segment under the InCred Wealth brand,” the company added.

InCred Money will have access to the whole range of product capabilities, according to the InCred Group. According to the company, InCred Money will also develop a B2B2C offering by utilizing technology to effectively incorporate a wide network of Independent Financial Advisors (IFA) across the country, enabling them to access class-leading products and solutions for the advantage of their end customers. 

Orowealth is a retail-focused digital investment platform that offers access to specialized, low-cost investment opportunities in addition to more traditional investment avenues like mutual funds and fixed deposits.

Bhupinder Singh, Founder and Group CEO of InCred Group, said, “In the next decade, the democratization of investment opportunities covering the Mass Affluent and Retail segments will be driven by digital platforms that unlock access to non-traditional assets for investors as well as their advisors. This will help to create a new market worth tens of billions in AUM. With the launch of the InCred Money platform, we are committed to offering best-in-class products to these rapidly evolving customer segments in keeping with our vision to meet the financial needs of every Indian family.”

With his appointment, Bureau aims to bolster its presence in India and expand its market outreach overseas. Preekshit brings over 20 years of experience working in several organisations in the identity, fraud, and compliance domains. Before Bureau, Preekshit spearheaded Transunion CIBIL’s product development and go-to-market strategy for the fraud, identity, and digital onboarding verticals. At FIS, RSA Security, and Smokescreen Technologies, Preekshit has held regional leadership positions.

Speaking on his appointment, Bureau’s Founder and CEO Ranjan R Reddy said, “Preekshit’s deep industry experience, and impressive track record, will help Bureau solve the identity verification and fraud challenges that are surging in India and other emerging markets today. He shares a common vision to make cyberspace more secure and equitable by effectively enabling trusted online verifications and transactions.”

Preekshit Gupta, Regional Vice President of APAC & MEA region, said, “I’m honoured and excited to be a part of this ambitious team at Bureau. At a time when consumers and businesses are increasingly transacting in a digital environment, a reliable basis for online trust has never been in greater demand. With Bureau’s impressive business momentum and innovative solutions, we are well poised to accelerate digital transformation and deliver growth without fear of risk for our customers.”

Bureau offers enterprise-grade digital identity verification and fraud protection solutions to digital and regulated institutions. For online businesses, Bureau’s no-code identity decisioning platform enables seamless customer onboarding and fraud-free customer interactions. Bureau was incorporated in 2020 and has offices in Singapore and San Francisco, California. The comprehensive identity and fraud decisioning solutions from the Bureau have earned the trust of more than 100 digital businesses.

In his new role, Nain will focus on building upGrad’s Data Vertical Sales and Marketing efforts while implementing product innovations for improved business outcomes. Brijesh has over ten years of expertise and has led high-growth business teams in the telecom, consumer goods, and pharmaceutical industries. He spearheaded the exam-prep division while managing the marketing and product initiatives for greater sales funnel effectiveness during his last employment with K12 giant BYJU’S.

On the other hand, Jhaveri would take the lead as the senior management’s financial advisor for business strategy growth. To streamline the financial planning and reporting procedures, he will manage compliance functions for upGrad and its divisions from start to finish. As a qualified chartered accountant, he began his career with PwC and later moved on to other firms where he strengthened the finance divisions of numerous businesses. Additionally, he served as the Walt Disney Company’s AVP – Finance.

Commenting on the development, Mayank Kumar, Co-founder and MD upGrad, said, “upGrad is extremely committed to driving career outcomes for its learners, which in turn, have started reaping business results. We have expanded our domestic footprint significantly and introduced new business lines to support our growth momentum. It’s important for us to have leaders like Brijesh and Paras who come with strong business fundamentals and have steered growth and profitability for multiple brands. We have planned certain organic developments for the current and upcoming FYs which will surely amplify our market visibility and foothold. Therefore, we are confident to leverage their expertise and strong leadership skills to further multiply our efforts for 100%+ results.”

The capital raised will expand the company’s product offerings across B2C and B2B markets and broaden its service portfolio. MoneyFellow also intends to increase its presence in Asia and Africa.

“The support we received from leading local and global venture capital firms in times of instability and scarcity of growth capital rounds is a testament to their faith and confidence in our business model, our team and the overall opportunity that lies in the Egyptian market,” Ahmed Wadi, founder and CEO of Money Fellows said in a statement.

MoneyFellow, founded in 2017, uses a digital version of the traditional “rotating savings and credit association” model, also known as “Gameya” in the Arab world, to enable users to get reasonable credit and save money. 

The world’s centre for fintech is steadily moving to the Gulf. The sector’s revenue is anticipated to increase by an average rate of 12% from 2018 to reach a value of $187 billion by 2024, according to Statista.