KING OF DREAMS
The IMPACT Person of the Year award acknowledges and celebrates achievement in the advertising, media, and marketing ecosystems, and this year’s IMPACT Person of the Year 2022 (IPOY) candidates were equally impressive.
IPOY, the exchange4media Group’s flagship brand, honours the brightest minds who have displayed exceptional leadership characteristics and made significant contributions to the industry throughout their careers. The individual(s) should have made a significant contribution to his or her own firm as well as industry groups, and the practices followed by him or her should have far-reaching consequences in the near future. IPOY recognises and celebrates the best minds who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership qualities and have made outstanding contributions during their career.
Dr Annurag Batra, Chairman and Founder exchange4media, commented, “Impact Person of the year over the last 18 years has become synonymous with excellence and impact at scale and someone who makes a huge impact on the digital , media, advertising and marketing ecosystem through building their own businesses and also being a game changer for their companies and the industry.” “This year’s nominees have taken the scale and impact of excellence to a new level,” he added.
In its 18th edition, the IPOY 2022 selection includes some great legacy and current business executives from a variety of areas. It demonstrates the award’s rising importance and dedication to recognize excellent businesses and leaders. The list of nominees for this year’s title was prepared using insights from industry leaders and experts, as well as thorough editorial scrutiny.
The nominee list embodies the spirit of the ‘IMPACT Person of the Year’ award by pushing boundaries, challenging the status quo, and leaving a lasting impression on the industry. The candidates’ accomplishments inspire and demonstrate the power of commitment, ingenuity, and originality.
Over the years, the IMPACT Person of the Year (IPOY) award has been considered as an emblem of success. The prize given to prominent corporate executives emphasizes the ‘disruptor’ component, which identifies game changers. With that in mind, Dream Sports’ Harsh Jain has gained attention this year as the guy who has had a ‘dream run’ in establishing the country’s largest sports technology firm.
Harsh Jain, Culture Enforcement Officer (CEO) and Co-Founder of Dream11, has received the exchange4media Group’s IMPACT Person of the Year (IPOY) 2022 Award, which recognizes achievement in advertising, media, and marketing. He received this honour for founding India’s largest sports technology firm, which serves over 200 million customers. Dream11 is India’s first gaming firm to join the unicorn club. Jain effectively combined his interests in sports, gaming, and technology to create the popular sports tech firm.
Harsh Jain, the youngest ever recipient of the award was present with his family and said during his acceptance speech, “The list of nominees was pretty intimidating, and I am glad I made the cut. So, thank you to the jury. The list of people who have won this award in the past is even more intimidating, so we’ve got a long way to prove that we are worth giving this award to. It’s been an amazing fifteen years of running Dream11 and Dream Sports. I would like to quote Isaac Newton who had said, ‘I only look farther than others because I stand on the shoulders of giants. I am very fortunate to have so many giants in my life whose shoulders I can stand on. The way we have built Dream11 and Dream Sports, I can consider myself a sports coach. We try to emulate the world’s best sports teams when thinking about our culture, what we want to do and how we want to build it.”
Harsh Jain, a transparent leader, has always advocated for providing chances to his team members. The business leader frequently advocates for providing genuine ESOPs to the whole staff, citing the fact that employees are a company’s actual asset. According to him, several of the office lads linked with his organization now have ESOPs. With these countless accomplishments and milestones in mind, we offer to you Harsh Jain, The IMPACT Person of the Year 2022.
After being rejected by 150 venture capitalists, Dream11 has gone on to raise Rs 65000 crore with the help of renowned investors including RedBird Capital Partners, Tiger Global Management, and Falcon Edge India, among others. Jain, who earned his MBA from the famous Columbia Business School in New York, believes in retention over acquisition and works hard to keep both his stakeholders and his personnel pleased. Jain is also heavily involved in charity through the Dream Sports Foundation, which focuses on assisting the Indian sports environment. His NGO, Raksha Foundation, which he manages with his wife Rachana, assists underprivileged children and animals.
‘We’re a sports data company today looking at solving real user problems’ Harsh Jain, CEO and Co-Founder of Dream11 and Dream Sports, is one of India’s youngest billionaires, having introduced a new dimension to games such as cricket, kabaddi, football, and others, transforming a passive game observer into one who can participate in the sport he enjoys. Harsh Jain did it with Dream Sports, India’s largest sports technology firm, valued at Rs. 65,000 crore and with over 220 million registered members.
Shri Ashish Shelar, President, the Mumbai BJP wing and BCCI Treasurer, who is a two-term MLA from Bandra and has served as school education and sports minister in the Devendra Fadnavis government in 2019, was the Chief Guest for the event. During his keynote address, he said, “When I heard the winner’s name, which I am not supposed to declare (yet), I made my mind doubly sure that I must be present for the event. The IMPACT Person of the Year 2022 goes to the person who has made an impact. I congratulate the winner, I compliment the organizers, and I appreciate the efforts taken by all stakeholders.”
Speaking at the event, Dr. Annurag Batra, Co-founder, exchange4media Group said, “When you look at the past winners of the IMPACT Person of the Year award, they are illustrious names. Just to give you an example of the last two years – we have had Mr. Sanjiv Mehta who was at that time the Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Unilever, and the year before we had Mr. Sanjiv Puri the Chairman of ITC Limited. This year’s winner is in the same mould but is also not in the same mould. You will know when you find out the name.”
Speaking of Harsh Jain’s passion for work, Avinash Pandey, CEO, ABP Network said, “So there is a maxim that all of us have heard many times, but not many of us have had the good fortune to have lived – ‘make your passion your work, and not the work your passion.’ Today I am standing on the stage with someone who exemplifies this old saying to its truest.”
The game-changers who made it to the nominees for the 18th edition this year include Aman Gupta, Co-founder & CMO, boAt; Darpan Sanghvi Founder & CEO, Good Glamm Company; Ghazal Alagh, Co-founder & CIO, Mamaearth and Varun Alagh Co-founder & CEO, Mamaearth; Harsh Jain, Co-founder and Culture Enforcement Officer, Dream 11; Harsh Mariwala, Founder & Chairman, Marico; Mohit Burman, Chairman, Dabur India Ltd; N Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons.
The other great minds who had made to the nomination list of the prestigious award are Nisaba Godrej, Executive Chairperson, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd; Peyush Bansal, Co-founder and CEO, Lenskart; RS Agarwal, Co-founder & Chairman Emeritus, Emami Limited; RS Goenka, Co-founder & Non-Executive Chairman, Emami Limited; Sanket Ray, President, India & Southwest Asia, The Coca-Cola Company; Vineeta Singh & Kaushik Mukherjee, Co-founders, Sugar Cosmetics.
IPOY is presented to one or more individuals who have made an impact in the advertising, media and marketing sphere and influenced the industry with their significant contribution. IPOY, the exchange4media Group’s flagship property, recognizes and celebrates the best minds who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership qualities and outstanding contributions to the industry during their career. The person/s should have made a substantial contribution to his/her own business as well as industry bodies and the practice adopted by him/her should have had far-reaching effects in the foreseeable future.
The IMPACT Person of the Year (IPOY) is a flagship property of the IMPACT Magazine, which is presented to one or more individuals who have made an everlasting impact on the advertising, media and marketing ecosystem. IPOY recognizes and celebrates the best minds who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership qualities and have made outstanding contributions during their career.
Every year, exchange4media Group and IMPACT’s flagship property, the IMPACT Person of the Year (IPOY) title is presented to one or more persons who have made the maximum impact in the domain of Advertising, Media, and Marketing, having influenced the industry with significant contributions.
Harsh Jain is now part of an elite group of IPOY winners, names that inspire confidence and garner respect in the fields of advertising, media, and marketing. Past winners include, include Sanjiv Mehta, then Chairman, HUL; Sanjiv Puri, Chairman and MD, ITC Limited; Rajan Anandan, then MD, Google India; Baba Ramdev of Patanjali Ayurved; Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder and CEO of Paytm; Arnab Goswami, then President & Editor-in-Chief, Times Now and ET Now; Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd; Vineet Jain, MD, Times Group; Ambika Soni, then Minister for Information & Broadcasting; Agnello Dias, Founder, Taproot India; Haresh Chawla, then Group CEO, Network18 and Viacom18; Uday Shankar, then CEO, Star India; Raghav Bahl, Founder, Network18; and Rajdeep Sardesai, then Editor-in-Chief, CNN-IBN.
