Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer
The first leadership hire for a venture-backed fashion marketplace.
LimeRoad · Lightspeed portfolio
LimeRoadLightspeed portfolio
A start-up online fashion e-commerce marketplace with successful funding from a marquee investor panel.
- Role
- Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer
- Sector
- E-commerce, Lightspeed Venture Partners portfolio
- Location
- India
- Outcome
- Successfully placed and helped in the launch of the business and built the team
Mandates led by Avneesh Raghuvanshi over the course of his career at previous firms, before Antik Consultants was established in August 2026.
The situation
- Situation that led to the mandate
- We were introduced to the company by the fund while the company was being conceived. After many ideating sessions, we advised that the first leadership hire should be someone with a supply chain background from a retail company in India, as Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer.
- Market
- Indian talent pool, as it was critical that the person should bring knowledge of the Indian marketplace as well as existing relationships with logistics and warehousing providers.
- Timing
- Our commitment was to deliver the shortlisted candidates within 4 weeks.
Client need
It was important that the person should have been a specialist in supply chain, with an in-depth understanding of the retail industry and consumers in India.
It was also important that the person should have existing relationships with logistics and warehouse service providers.
The ability to attract and retain a high-quality team within the budgetary constraints faced by a start-up was also an important requirement.
The challenge
To identify, convince and evaluate senior candidates who were willing to leave a large, well-established setup and join a start-up. On our advice, the compensation was structured in a manner which included equity in the start-up along with the founder and the investor.
The appointment
Appointee
Mr Ankush Mehra
- Founder, Global Transatlantic Supply
- ex-Head of Supply Chain, ITC LRBD
Impact since the appointment
As the second employee, Ankush was the co-founder and worked with the founder in the inception, launch and establishment of a premier fashion marketplace platform, with complete ownership of the business model and the entire operations of the company.
Designed process automation with 100% production timelines adherence and best-in-industry customer service.
Established a state-of-the-art distribution centre and CRPC (Customer Return Processing Centre) at a pan-India level.
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