Nykaa Board appoints Santosh Desai as independent director

Nykaa’s board members bring expertise in business strategy, tech, entrepreneurship, finance, governance, human capital management, and CSR.

FSN E-Commerce Ventures (Nykaa) has announced the appointment of Santosh Desai as an independent director on its Board, effective July 15 2024, for a period of three years, subject to the approval of shareholders.

Santosh served as the CEO of Future Brands for nearly 17 years. He has also served as the president of McCann. Having spent over two decades in advertising, he has been involved in strategically building key brands for numerous local and multinational organisations.

Santosh is currently serving on the boards of Think9 Consumer Technologies, Dainik Jagran Group, and Breakthrough. He is also a member of the Governing Councils of Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad and Praxis Business School, Kolkata. He has earlier served on the boards of ING Vysya Bank and OXFAM India.

Welcoming Desai’s appointment, Falguni Nayar, executive chairperson, founder and CEO, Nykaa, said, “Santosh’s experience in understanding the interwoven relationship between culture and brands has helped build several iconic brands. Nykaa’s unrivaled customer centricity and focus on innovation has enabled us to garner tremendous consumer love and trust. We are confident that Santosh’s strategic guidance will help steer our vision to propel Nykaa’s brand equity and bolster our existing bouquet of brands for long-term global success.”

Commenting on his appointment, Desai said, “I am excited to join Nykaa as an independent director. Nykaa has driven a transformative change in the beauty and lifestyle landscape in India with its customer-centric approach to retail. I look forward to contributing to the continued success and growth of this dynamic organisation, leveraging my experience in brand strategy and advertising to help shape its highly promising future."

Nykaa’s current board of directors comprises 10 members who offer expertise in business strategy, technology, entrepreneurship, finance, governance and regulation, human capital management, and CSR.

Among the group of independent directors are Milind Sarwate, Anita Ramachandran, Seshashayee Sridhara, and Pradeep Prameshwaram. The tenure of Nykaa’s independent directors adheres to the framework prescribed by regulations and reappointments are in accordance with those regulations.