Nova Benefits strengthens its senior leadership with the appointment of Kumar Prabhakar as Director of SMB, and Raj Nayan Datta as Chief of Staff
- Nova Benefits expands its sales and marketing focus with the appointment of Kumar Prabhakar as the Director of SMB Sales
- Raj Nayan Datta joins Nova Benefits as Chief of Staff, to effectively build, nurture and grow the workforce at the company
National, April 27, 2022: Nova Benefits, an employee wellness platform focused on corporate health insurance, announced the on-boarding of Kumar Prabhakar as Director of SMB Sales, and Raj Nayan Datta as Chief of Staff, further strengthening the company’s leadership team.
Mr. Prabhakar, appointed as the Director of SMB Sales at Nova Benefits, comes with over 13 years of cross-functional expertise in sales, operations, and customer service, along with a deep knowledge of mobilizing revenue channels. Prior to joining Nova Benefits, he was heading SME Sales at Razorpay. He has experience in heading large and diverse sales, operation and customer service teams across B2B and B2C segments. At the Mahindra Group, Prabhakar was a core team member of a startup that was built from scratch.
Raj Nayan, who joins Nova Benefits as the Chief of Staff, comes with over 5 years of experience advising CXOs on business strategy and execution. Raj graduated with a BTech in Chemical Engineering from IIT Bombay, and started his career at the Japanese investment bank Nomura, working in their London and Tokyo desks. Prior to joining Nova Benefits, he was the head of Business Intelligence & Strategy at the EdTech unicorn Unacademy. He is also the Co-founder of A Junior VC, a 10K+ strong community of startup enthusiasts that shares insightful commentary on the buzzing Indian startup ecosystem.
Welcoming the new leaders, Saransh Garg, CEO & Co-founder, Nova Benefits said, “At Nova Benefits, we are at a pivotal point in our growth journey as we align to cover millions of lives in India. With that in mind, we are thrilled to welcome Kumar Prabhakar and Raj Nayan Datta as part of our leadership team at Nova Benefits at this significant time. I believe that the sense of ownership and expertise that each of these leaders bring to the table will help us achieve our vision to cover 10 million lives in India by 2025. We’re excited to work with these new leaders in transforming the employee wellness space and build happier and healthier workplaces.”
Joining Nova Benefits in his new position as Director, SMB Sales, Mr. Kumar Prabhakar said, “I was specifically looking for a startup that has high potential to scale-up and grow in its segment. Another no-brainer for me was the founder’s vision and perspective towards establishing a holistic work culture that ensures a happy and supercharged workplace. Having spent the majority of my career in sales and operations, I look forward to using my expertise and knowledge in building and growing the organization.”
On joining Nova Benefits, Raj Nayan Datta, Chief of Staff said, “I’m excited to join Nova Benefits as the Chief of Staff where I can leverage my experience to help the company turbocharge its growth. I’m glad to be a part of a team of smart and empathetic individuals working towards creating happier and healthier workspaces centred around employee wellness in India. The impact that I can create at scale is phenomenal, and I can’t wait to dive head first into solving a real problem faced by every organisation today.”
In September 2021, the company raised $10 million in its Series A funding round backed by Bessemer Venture Partners and SIG. Nova Benefits also became the first investment of AngelList Early-Stage Quant Fund in India. The fund counts AngelList founder Naval Ravikant as a Limited Partner (LP). As of now, 200+ companies have been insured with Nova Benefits, with 100,000+ members covered, and 3000+ claims processed. Some of the companies that have insured with Nova include DTDC, Snapdeal, PharmEasy, MyGate, Taco Bell, CoinDCX, TeachMint, Chumbak, HomeLane, and Zenoti, among others.
