Dainik Bhaskar Group appoints Pathik Shah as CEO, DB Digital

DB Corp has recently announced the appointment of Mr. Pathik Shah as the Chief Executive Officer for DB Digital, its digital products business.

Backed by an extensive experience of close to a decade in building, operating and growing digital consumer products, Pathik will be responsible for driving the Digital Business at Dainik Bhaskar Group.

Prior to joining Dainik Bhaskar Group, Pathik was associated with Hike Messenger for almost seven years. He was designated as the Vice President, Products and also led M&A functions. During his tenure at Hike, he led many of the key product & growth initiatives which helped Hike grow to over 100 million registered users in less than 4 years. On the back of this rapid growth, Hike raised capital of more than $250 million, accounting for a valuation of $1.4 billion, becoming one of the fastest unicorns in India. Additionally, he also led and executed multiple M&A transactions for Hike, including an investment in WinZO and the acquisition of ZipPhone, Creo and a few others.

Commenting on the appointment, Pawan Agarwal, Dy. Managing Director, DB Corp Limited said “We are pleased to welcome Pathik on-board. We are confident that his proven ability to drive strategic growth especially in digital consumer products through product innovation, and his leadership skills will contribute to the Group’s ambition of further strengthening the brand. Dainik Bhaskar Group is at an exciting stage of growth and we look forward to achieving several milestones on the journey ahead and reinforcing our position as one of India’s largest and dynamic media conglomerates.”

Pathik Shah, Chief Executive Officer, DB Digital said, “I am delighted to be a part of the DB Digital team of India’s largest print media Company, Dainik Bhaska Group. Having a leadership position in the print medium, we’re now aiming to become the dominant player in digital news and content products built for India, targeting the enormous pool of ~500 million users who are either existing or soon-to-become users of internet directly via mobile phones, in the next couple of years. We have the opportunity of a lifetime to build a rich, mobile-first news product for this market and innovate on key aspects like engaging content formats and a seamless product experience optimized for India while continuing to deliver what we’re already known for - high quality, trusted content. It will be my sincere endeavour to contribute meaningfully towards achieving success in this ambitious mission."