Birla scions Ananya & Aryaman join Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Board

The board of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, at its meeting held on Monday, inducted Kumar Mangalam Birla’s children, Ananya and Aryaman to the board of Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail as directors.

At the same time, the board of Aditya Birla Management Corporation (ABMCL), the apex body that provides strategic direction to the Aditya Birla Group’s businesses, also recently inducted the two on the board.

“Ananya Birla and Aryaman Vikram Birla come with rich and varied experience straddling entrepreneurship and business building. The board believes that ABFRL will benefit from their new-age insights and business acumen,” the company said in a release.

Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman Aditya Birla Group said, “Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail has built a formidable portfolio of fashion brands across multiple categories and formats, covering all major segments of the Indian apparel market.  In the last few years, the company has entered multiple new emerging segments such as ethnicwear— including partnerships with Indian designers, luxury, sportswear and new age businesses through its digital venture TMRW.”

He also said that the ABFRL platform is now poised for a new wave of exponential growth. Ananya and Aryaman’s individual achievements in their chosen fields and early success with their independent entrepreneurial ventures set them up well for larger responsibilities.

“Their nuanced understanding of new-age business models and emerging shifts in consumer behaviour will infuse fresh energy to the board of ABFRL. Ananya and Aryaman are firmly rooted in the group’s values and passionately believe in the group’s purpose. I am confident that they will build on the group’s rich entrepreneurial traditions and successful track record in creating sustained stakeholder value,” he added.

Ananya Birla is a business woman and platinum selling artist. She founded her first company, Svatantra Microfin at the age of 17 which is amongst India's fastest growing MFI's.

It has crossed an AUM of $1 billion, and has grown at a CAGR of 120 per cent (2015-2022).

“With a CRISIL A+ rating, Svatantra is the youngest, highest rated organization in the sector and Svatantra successfully acquired Micro Housing Finance Corporation in 2018.. Ananys Birla is also the founder of design-led home decor brand Ikai Asai.

Aryaman Birla

On the social front, she has co-founded Mpower, and advocates the need for conversations around mental health in India. She is also the founder of the Ananya Birla Foundation that does research in mental health and social impact.

Aryaman Birla comes with diverse experience which includes, entrepreneurship, VC investing, and professional sport. He is closely involved with several businesses of the Aditya Birla Group. In consultation with the group chairman, Kumar Mangalam Birla, he is working on the Group’s foray into new-age businesses.

“Aryaman helped incubate the Group’s D2C platform, TMRW, and is a director on its board. His maiden entrepreneurial foray was in the hospitality business. Aryaman is also spearheading the Group’s venture capital fund-Aditya Birla Ventures,” the statement said.

Prior to joining the group, Aryaman was a cricketer.