Combining Strategy and Character
Empowering People
Chairman
With more than 25 years of experience in the FMCG sector, Mr Chhabra leads the overall planning and execution with an emphasis on Sales, Finance, Purchase, HR and Operations Management. Since becoming the MD and CEO in 2007, he has played an integral role in Hygienic Research Institute Private Limited’s (HRIPL) phenomenal growth and value creation for all the stakeholders. His strategy and leadership have also propelled the growth of the key brands Vasmol and Streax.
Joining HRIPL as a floor chemist, Mr Chhabra started by supervising a team of 22 workers. As he began to take up more responsibility, he worked alongside his mother, helping build HRIPL as one of the unique success stories in the history of the Indian hair care industry.
His keen vision, strategic goals, determination and hard work, helped him take the flagship product Vasmol to a superior position in the emulsion-based hair dye segment by securing a market share of around 95 per cent in the subcategory.
He saw the potential growth of the hair colour market and fulfilled his dream of offering consumers an affordable styling product. As a result, STREAX hair colour was born. The brand is one of the most popular hair colour brands in India, ranked second in India in terms of volume sale.
His timely initiatives to set up a professional division and establish international tie-ups with two leading European companies to provide quality products in the professional range have paid off. He believes that people are the main assets of the organisation. Joining HRIPL with a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from Pune College of Pharmacy, he has also completed the developmental management programme from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad. He also keeps himself updated with the various aspects of work, from sales and marketing, frequently learning from the departments themselves and being in the know. An inclusive leader, he personifies the HRIPL mantra of growing together and has organised a 6-months program from IIM for HRIPL’s core team. Apart from work, he is into yoga and is a cinephile.
Joint Managing Director
As the Joint Marketing Director of Hygienic Research Institute Private Limited (HRIPL), Mr. Ashish Chhabra looks after a diverse portfolio, which includes marketing, creatives, concepts, ideas, brand building, new product development, brand launches; administrative and legal affairs; trademark, patents, copyrights; international business and exports and; purchases and cost management.
He started his career at HRIPL as a sales representative just after graduation. Travelling across India, he learned about regional markets. He credits this experience as pivotal to his role in understanding customers and devising products and selling strategies. He followed this up by working in different departments, such as accounts, and also the factories to understand other aspects of the business before entering marketing.
With a graduate degree in accounts, he has in-depth knowledge of how the company operates and a transparent approach. A thoughtful, team-oriented and decisive leader, Mr Chhabra has an informal leadership style. Outside of work, he loves to travel and meet new people.
Founder, Board Advisor & CSR Head
The epitome of resilience, Mrs.Chhabra took over the business post the death of her husband Mr. Kailash S. Chhabra, the son of HRIIPL founder Dr. S.S. Nishat. Mrs.Chhabra, who came from an arts background, had very little experience with the world of cosmetic manufacturing. But she persevered and alongside her brother-in-law Mr.Subash C. Nishant, grew the business from a small factory with 20 employees to the scale at which it operates today.
Mrs. Chhabra has received much appreciation for her efforts. In 2007, she was honoured with National Award for ‘Outstanding Woman Entrepreneur Of The Year’, in 2008 she won an award by MSME, Maharashtra for business leadership, and in 2010 she received the “National Award For Business Excellence”. Mrs.Chhabra’s inspiring journey has also been recorded in the book “Millionaire Housewives” co-authored by Rinku Paul and Puja Singhal.
Mrs.Chhabra’s leadership motto is “do what you have to do, no excuses”, and a deep believer in the power of humility, Mrs.Chhabra echoes the family value of “growing together” in everything that she does. On a personal front Mrs.Chhabra is passionate about singing, reading, and is currently working on a selection of Shloka’s from the Bhagavad Gita.
CFO & Operating Partner - Premji Invest
Manoj Jaiswal is CFO and the Operating Partner for Premji Invest (PI). PI is the family office of Mr Premji and manages assets worth US$5Bn with investments in both India and US in Public Market and Private Equity Space.
Before joining PI in Dec 2017, Manoj was working with the RPG Group and was CFO for CEAT Limited and Zensar Technologies, both Publicly Listed Cos in India.
Before RPG Group, Manoj had spent 17 years in Wipro in various capacities. Amongst many roles in Wipro, Manoj was the CFO for the BPO business, head of Wipro Global Treasury and Investor Relations and Business Unit Head for Corporate Business Services within the Wipro BPO Business.
He has co-steered the BPO business to one of the fastest and most profitable businesses in the BPO industry along with the Business Head. During his tenure in Wipro Treasury, he improved ROCE by restructuring Core Working Capital and has led the demerger of Wipro Limited and Wipro Enterprises along with other leaders in the organization. Manoj did his articleship from Price Water Coopers.
Manoj is a Commerce Graduate and a Chartered Accountant. In his leisure time, Manoj enjoys music, movies, running, cycling and photography
Director
Varun leads consumer and brand investments at Premji Invest. He serves as a non-executive director on the boards of six companies across various geographies. He has over 14 years of Private Equity experience covering growth investing and buyouts with significant operational involvement across multiple sectors.
Varun has led and managed investments across sectors in India, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas.
Varun is an alumnus of Harvard Business School, the Indian Institute of Management and Shri Ram College, Delhi University.
Independent Director
Aditya Ghosh is a Business Leader and Co-Founder of Akasa Air. He is currently a Member of the Board of Directors at FabIndia Group, OYO Hotels & Homes, GreenCell Mobility, Tweet Foundation, and Ashoka University. Aditya Ghosh is also an Independent Director at Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) International Airport. He is the Chairperson of the Social Enterprise Central body of SEWA and a Member of the CII National Committee & Co-Chairman of the CII National Committee on Skill Development & Livelihood. He is one of the Founders of Ashoka University and a Member of the Circle of Sponsors, where he heads the Service Excellence Committee. Formerly, he was the President & Wholetime Director of IndiGo for ten years, where he was instrumental in turning the airline into the largest and most profitable airline in India. And also one of the fastest-growing low-cost carriers in the world. Prior to becoming a Board Member at OYO, he was also the CEO of OYO Hotels and Homes South Asia.
Aditya is World Economic Forum-Young Global Leader and has been recognized as Fortune 40 under 40 Globally and Fortune India 40 under 40 three years in a row. Aditya is a key supporter of the start-up world and has invested in consumer-facing businesses through his investment arm Homage Ventures such as Blue Tokai, Wholsum Foods, Genepath Diagnostics, CreditEnable, SpeakIn, Vsync, Juggernaut, Ladies Who Lead, EasyRes and Caterland UK, Chourangi.
Aditya originally is a lawyer by training and is now an alum of the Harvard Business School, having successfully completed HBS’ coveted and flagship Advanced Management Program (AMP).
Independent Director
Corporate Leader, Investor, Co-Founder: EdTech and Nature Conservation Social Enterprise Startup, Board member, PE Advisory, Exec Coach.
Corporate and Finance leader with 37 years of experience in consumer, automotive, services and industrial sectors. As CFO and Joint MD, Board Member of listed companies - well versed in governance, regulatory, compliance and board committees. India and Global experience leading multicultural teams in UK, Germany and Singapore. Starting with operations, leadership roles in strategy development and execution, P&L and performance steering, finance excellence, Treasury and Investor Relations, Business & Functional Transformation, Talent Strategy and Digital. Experience in M&A, Startup investments, JVs and Strategic Partnerships. Led Global Business Services, Risk Management. Procurement & Supply Chain teams.
Independent Director in listed Companies and Chairman/member of various Board Committees. Keen interest in ESG with certification from Terra.do on Climate Science and action; Co-Founder: Nature conservation startup Treeties, leveraging science and technology in ecosystem restoration. Co-founder EdTech startup NGO providing digital education in remote monastic and village schools in Ladakh. PE Advisory for startups in strategy, growth, regulatory, functional excellence and governance. Exec Coach helping CXOs, and start up founders become well-rounded successful leaders.
Chief Executive Officer
Meet Dheeraj Arora, CEO of Hygienic Research Institute, a leading personal beauty care brand. A well-rounded business leader with over two decades of experience in FMCG at Unilever & Britannia across India and D&E Markets covering General Management, Sales & Customer Development, Modern Trade & eCommerce.
As the Vice President of HUL he is credited with scaling up the Organized Trade business. Before that, he was instrumental in deploying 'Winning in Many Indias' structures in India and rolling out a data-tech-enabled front-end execution system that powers 15+ countries globally.
With a background in engineering, an MBA in sales & marketing from MDI Gurgaon, followed by Digital Strategy Program at INSEAD, Dheeraj brings a unique blend of High Tech-High Touch coupled with the 'butterfly effect - every small action will make a big difference'! In his words, "The constant invitation to make a positive impact not only to the company & immediate stakeholders but also to the lives of customers, consumers & society at large, is a very liberating feeling." Dheeraj is married to Ashu who is a professionally qualified techie, and shares his hobbies of Swimming, Squash, Music & Dance with his daughters Ishita & Peehu. A marathoner, Dheeraj believes in building long-term sustainable businesses on the back of hard work, tenacity & finishers mindset.
Recognized as the Most Influential eCommerce Professional & Business Icon of the Year'23, Dheeraj is well poised to lead the company on the path of Consistent, Competitive & Profitable Growth.