Networkplay announces new management under co-founder Viren Anand after CEO Ampreet Singh's exit

Gruner + Jahr's (the publishing division of European media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG) Indian arm Networkplay Media Pvt Ltd has announced a new management under the leadership of Viren Anand, its co-founder and director- operations & publisher alliances. He is joined by Hitesh Trehan, director- sales & new initiatives at Networkplay.

The announcement comes in the wake of co-founder and former CEO Ampreet Singh's exit from the company last month.

"The digital and mobile advertising industry in India is rapidly evolving with the increasing penetration of smartphones and greater acceptance for digital platforms. Networkplay has been monitoring this growth and is transforming into a future ready digital company, building technological competence around current expertise," said Anand, commenting on the way forward for the company.

Prior to co-founding Networkplay, Anand was a sales manager at Yahoo India. He had earlier worked at companies like Tribal DDB India and Mudra Communications, and holds a MBA degree in marketing from Amity Business School. Trehan is a BBA graduate from University College of Business Studies (UCBS), Shimla, and had earlier worked at companies like HIT 95 FM, JobsAhead and The Times of India.

Networkplay was founded by the foursome – Rammohan Sundaram, Sunil Punjabi, Singh and Anand. It was incubated in 2008 by digital advertising agency WebChutney and was funded by Capital18, the venture capital arm of the Network18 group. It provides branding solutions through engagement on web, mobile and DTH platforms, and operates from offices in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

Singh's was the third exit of a co-founder from the company. Earlier, co-founder and CEO Sundaram had quit the firm in November 2012. Soon after, Sunil Punjabi, co-founder, chief revenue officer and VP (publications) left the company. As of now, Anand is the only remaining co-founder at Networkplay.

In March 2012, Gruner + Jahr had acquired a majority stake in the company for an undisclosed sum. Post that, Networkplay has made a number of acquisitions in the country. It had acquired Smile Vun Group's- a joint venture between Manish Vij's Vun Network and Harish Bahl's Smile Group- mobile ad network Seventynine for an undisclosed sum in November 2012. Last year, it acquired yoCAPTCHA, an advertising platform owned by Innovese Technologies for an undisclosed amount.

Late last year, the company launched ARplay, an augmented reality application. ARplay is meant for Gruner + Jahr's brands to distribute multimedia content and build interaction with users. It has been developed by Networkplay and distributed through Seventynine (a business unit of Networkplay).