 Thank you, Shilpa for doing the honours and thank you Rahul once again for your participation here at the eForum conclave, all right One last time we'd like to thank our partners presenting partner Denik Jagaran Do you know who beats Denik Jagaran newspaper? It's only the milk man Denik Jagaran is the morning ritual of seven crore Indians co-powered by AVP news Gold partners Zerka digital solutions private limited a dim ventures private limited media Reimagined strategy partner Lakshya media group India's largest integrated advertising company co-partners BTVI business television India India's premier English business news channel Gifting partner bio Ayurveda organic luxury live webcast partner 24 frames digital. Thank you to all of you Ladies and gentlemen, it's that time that moment that all of you have been waiting for we have been waiting for we're not going to present The influencer of the year award now. This is something that I see a lot nowadays that Unleash your influence not your authority You know influencing is the new age mantra in the world of business and influencers are the new age royalty Luckily in the media advertising in marketing industry of India We have many many mavericks and many many influencers who've contributed with their great vision and great leadership And so it was in the year 2016 that we decided that we must present The influencer of the year what to such visionaries who give us great leadership and take the industry to and other Level all together to present this award. I'm not going to invite on stage. Dr. Anurag Batra Chairman and editor in chief BW business world Mr. Nawal Ahuja director co-founder exchange for media I'd also like to invite on stage our past winners 2016 winners CEO Viacom 18 Raj Nayak I'd also like to have on stage 2017 winner country manager WPP CVL Srinivas We'd also like to invite on stage Ashutosh Srivastava chairman and CEO Asia Middle East Africa Russia and CIS mind share and Mr. Rahul Agarwal once again is CEO Lenovo India and Mr. Vikram Sakuja group CEO Madison media and OH Madison world Mr. Harish Sreem, can you please join us on stage and Nazir Rahman editor exchange for media, please join us here on the dice And I'm going to request dr. Anurag Batra to please tell us who the winners are Okay, first of all, please give this Literally, this is like 90% of the Indian media industry here, right? So please give them a big round of applause and that are events that are cameras if you don't clap you don't get liquor so Can you clap louder for the people who are presenting? So We started the exchange for media influencer of the year award in 2016 We only do in Another person award, which is called the impact person of the year on 7th December It will be the 14th impact person of the year and the impact person of the year We do it through a process which is driven by Nielsen. We poll 1500 CEO leaders from the media advertising communication industry and We don't have a state beyond deciding amongst the top three then and we always felt at the end of the day We are an editorial lead company. We know who's doing well in our industry So we should be able to decide it amongst our editors Traditionally noor now Nazir at exchange for media dot com Shrabna at impact the editor of pitch Abhishek at Samachar for media So three years back we said let's start this exchange for media influencer of the year people who influence the industry In more ways than one by building their own businesses by leaving an impact beyond business and in somewhere community leaders We also said let's Recognize people who've done great work for serve but for some reason haven't won the impact person of the year If I was deciding everyone who's won the exchange for media influencer of the year in the last two years This is a third year should have been an impact person there and I really mean it We do it through a Nielsen survey and in the top three mean I will and no have traditionally decided so we that's how we launched it and so mr. Rajnaik Who doesn't really need an introduction was the exchange for media media influencer of the year in? 2016 mr. Steevelle Srinivas was the exchange for media influencer of the year in 2017 This year's winners are two joint winners. They come from a single company and Keep saying to novel and to my edit colleagues both in exchange for media and business world that we have to discover trends ideas and people before They get discovered before they become big So tonight's winners and they are joint winners. They run a company jointly. There's a founder and there's a co-founder and president So tonight's winners are people we believe They're at the cusp of being discovered. They're already very big, but I think they're on the cusp of being discovered so tonight's winners are the founder and CEO of daily hunt Virendra Gupta who's here and Umang Bedi president daily hunt who today couldn't be here because by the time we reached out to them He had already planned something, but we'll have him on video You'll see an avi about where in there you will have an interview with him But just to give you a background into who he is and umang and daily hunt daily hunt reaches out to about 150 million Indian You know audiences In a duo Pali of Facebook and Google This is one Indian company we exchange for media believe can challenge that and just to give you a perspective out of The 20,000 crores that get spent in digital about 14,000 crores goes to Facebook and Google 10,000 4,000 crores So I believe this is a company that possibly can and I'm sure you will be able to create an Indian digital media Behemoth so we celebrate your success But we know that you're at the cusp of making it even bigger in some way It also signals that the if you look at our winner in the first year. He is a media professional He's been an entrepreneur the second winner was a Sea of an agency who he's was a leader agency but he's taken it to another level and today tonight's winners are two individuals who are building let's say Possibly the biggest digital media company India will have in the next five years and the beauty about what they're building is that they're Not only in English language When you talk to anybody in the digital space when you ask him what is the next big thing? The thing they tell you is the growth in Indian languages We do as we're in the group. I was called and among and I share my birthday with amongst dad right Are making sure that the Indian language commitment is not just something that is said to be on stages but it's something that they are Really investing in and I wish them luck and I'd like to call Virender Gupta on stage. Thank you Bigger Virender Gupta or Viru as he's fondly known is a rare visionary Founder and CEO of daily hunt Virender Gupta pre-empty the consumer internet ecosystem as we know it today He acquired news aggregator news hunt towards the end of 2011 rebranding it into daily hunt in 2015 and Making it a leading platform for content in local Indian languages His consumer internet venture has been a blockbuster Daily hunt had only 800,000 monthly active users at the time of the acquisition The news aggregator has now amassed 155 million monthly active users around 70% of the app's users are from tier two three and four cities Earlier this year daily hunt had appointed another visionary to take the story of the company forward Mr. Oman baby was brought on board as daily hunts president He leads the strategic thinking and operational business delivery at daily hunt in the past Mr. Baby has led the Indian businesses of multinational companies like Facebook Adobe into it and semantic Daily hunt is emerging as the local David to the goliaths of Facebook and Google For their pioneering venture and steering a company to path breaking success We are what the platform and its commanders Virendra Gupta and Oman baby the influencer of the year 2018 Revolutionized the Indian telecom industry and now the mobile internet industry I think we would always be the cutting edge of leveraging technology for mass use of people in this country And I think now we're say having acquired daily hunt and really scaled it up substantially It has become the go-to you know portal of choice and app of choice for large number of audiences in regional India who depend on regional language content both in television as well as in print and Consuming it through mobile phones and smartphones And I think it's that way that he has caught on and the way the product is you know delivered to the audiences That has really made a substantial amount of difference I think the other thing that really stands out about we do is the fact that he's really built a world-class team I think it is a testimony to viewers leadership that he has built not only a fine organization But also fine team which is doing substantial amount of work in the mobile internet space in India I've known Virendra Gupta or Viro as we call it Right from the time he joined us as a trainee in BPL mobile I Remember him being extremely good at his work hard-working wanting to learn and was quite innovative I met him a couple of years ago after it set up daily hunt And I admire the fact that he has actually been second. I will be able to set up a large Media tech company and and succeeded at that You rarely come across a guy who speaks his mind as clearly and as simply as Virendra does he is I think the person in this company who's most focused on consumer experience He's our largest tester. I've been with daily hunt for close to 11 years and counting now It's been an amazing journey. I think Viro is one of the most sharpest and in due to brains and I've come across he's got a very keen eye for detail and He's a visionary of sorts. He's been able to smell opportunities When they are miles away And that's what makes him a very successful entrepreneur today. He's extremely grounded and his magnanimity and both these qualities show up in both his personal and professional life, and that's what makes him an amazing Human being to work with he was very clear right from the start that internet in India Whenever it will happen, it's going to heaven around languages And that's a dream that he has lived while he's created this company Paul Newsom I feel super thrilled and excited to know that that daily hunt is winning the award of influencer of the year so my heartiest congratulations goes for Viro the complete team of daily hunt and All of us feel excited Me as a person as well as all of us from full of a more than a group So our best wishes for their journey the daily hunt under Viro's leadership. I would say has Become so big that you know all there are all his competitors are actually enviable to The heights it has actually reached, you know when he has to express himself Whatever is in his mind he and actually speaks so it becomes very easy for people like us when we work with him We know what his expectations are we have been able to get double our reach in India We know which according to me is no small feat daily hunt is a very collaborative and aggressive culture right Most of the people here are self-motivated They are like driven by goals. I would say this would not have been possible without Viro's visionary and thoughtful and deliberate leadership. He drives us like very aggressively he challenges the status quo So he's a true inspiration for everyone here. I know Oumang for almost a year He's a very respectful person in the industry His achievements are larger than life like he has achieved so much in such a short duration I would say he's the face and the force of daily hunt Everyone here has so much to learn from him so much to basically learn from his experience And I congratulate him for this award. I've known Viro for over the last 10 years Viro is an extremely passionate and hard-working individual who is extremely down to earth and humble We do I've seen Viro transform verse and daily hunt from a value added services application to India's largest Media platform. It has been an amazingly inspiring Experience working with the motivated team from the daily hunt but led by Viro himself I wish him all the best in the future endeavors and all the success He has truly put India on the map. What's noteworthy is Viro and his super talented teams relentless focus on innovation and Building technology-enabled products and destinations for the real Bharat Viro is truly an inspirational leader full of passion focus and energy His laser sharp approach to building value for all stakeholders included He brings an infectious approach to everything and it has been truly an amazing and learning field experience of working with Viro Most importantly is a great human being Viro and I came together on this journey with one goal and one goal alone Which is to create the largest in the platform That's going to empower the next billion Indians to consume socialize and discover content that informs entertains and enriches their lives and it's been the most Amazing entrepreneurial journey. I think for me Viro and I have been like brothers We've been brothers because we're so aligned in our thinking. He understands Bharat at the grassroot level I understand scale and scale of businesses And we are so complimentary in our skill sets. He's you know in life You know you need an elder brother And I think for me that is what Viro stands for Well, congratulations Virinda Gupta founder and CEO Dali Hunt among baby president daily hunt Ladies and gentlemen are going to request mr. Raj Nayak to please share with us the content of the citation And then of course, mr. Srinivas to present the trophy And among baby president the exchange for media influence of the year award 2018 is confirmed upon Daily Hunts founder and CEO mr. Virinda Gupta and president among baby For their outstanding vision and pioneering a venture that is shaping consumer internet for Indians living outside the top metros As the founder of the company mr. Gupta preempted the consumer internet Ecosystem as we know it today. He acquired news aggregator news hunt towards the end of 2011 rebranding it into daily hunt in 2015 and making it a leading platform for content in local Indian languages Daily hunt has been a pioneer in the area of local languages offering engaging content in 14 languages Under his leadership daily hunts user base has gone up from 8 lakhs at the time of acquisition to 155 million Monthly active users as of October 2018 In a career spanning two decades mr. Gupta is out in various leadership roles across the industry and Finally become an end become an end became an entrepreneur in 2007 Was innovation the parent company of daily hunt was launched in 2007 as a value-added service company Today, mr. Gupta is a key influencer and a thought leader in the consumer internet world Shaping the dynamically changing industry for India Earlier this year mr. Bedi former Facebook India head joined this rapidly growing organization as its president Leading the strategic thinking and operational business delivery of the organization He has been instrumental in developing the roadmap for the next billion users at daily hunt Exchange for media wishes daily hunt faster growth and a phenomenal journey in years to come signed an Iraq Bhatra November 1628 in Mumbai Thank you. Thank you for doing so. I request you please take center stage and present the influencer of the year Chofi Let's all put our hands together in resounding applause for the winners this year the influencer of the year jointly being shared by Ladies and gentlemen the applause has to be better than that. Come on. Thank you Without you sharing your thoughts with us on this occasion First of all, I'm missing my partner and brother among baby here I so much wish he was here to receive this award with me Unfortunately, he's traveling and could not be here on his behalf and on the whole daily hunt team behalf. I humbly accept this award Thank you on Iraq. Thank you. Now. Thank you the whole team for Spotting us and finding us awarding this award It's a bit overwhelming to stand among such dignitaries and we see receive this award. We are just getting started as You know daily hence mission is to bridge the digital divide and we proud ourselves as One of the Indian companies which is trying to fight the digital dominance of Google and Facebook We are 150 million monthly active users and over the next couple of years will be about 300 to 350 million monthly active users serving the Bharat audience and They're going to be a big brand for digital brands who wants to reach out to regional We stand at the intersection of technology content and advertising and very happy to be part of this fraternity and we look forward for more such This award is a belief by all of you in us And we are just getting started on behalf of full daily and team umang and myself We want to thank you a lot for the celebrations. Thank you very much Thank you for those words and we hope your daily hunt of awards has just begun Thank you all for joining us to present this award to him and congratulations to you once again Before you leave stage, please come together for a group photograph India we finally have the option we're looking for mr. Bhatra