Ashish Raj

MBA from IIM Bodh Gaya with 3.5+ years of experience across Commercial Strategy, Business Development, GTM, Market Expansion, Strategic Initiatives, and Growth Management. I enjoy solving business problems, identifying opportunities, building go-to-market strategies, and turning them into measurable results. Experienced across 0→1 ventures, channel development, strategic projects, market research, and cross-functional execution.

Strategy Analyst at Bhatkawa Tea Industries Ltd. (2025-04 – 2026-08)

Embedded within the Director's Office to identify and execute strategic growth opportunities across new product commercialization, market expansion, and business development.

• Spearheaded Nandavita's go-to-market strategy — commercial positioning, channel partnerships, packaging, and pricing architecture — executed end-to-end with zero external agency involvement
• Secured Tea Board of India licensing for a 3-lakh-KG facility in 10 days versus the standard 3 to 4 months, securing a rare regulatory exception
• Resolved a critical Gujarat distributor conflict through on-site negotiation, securing exclusive territorial rights and driving 70% YoY sales growth (37,000 to 63,000 KGs)
• Designed incentive programs expanding annual purchase commitments by 435% and 245% across two partner accounts, both tracking ahead of target
• Led feasibility research for a new export crop with Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, executing a cultivation pilot before strategically pausing based on risk data
• Identified a 2,50,000-plant Areca nut plantation opportunity projected to generate Rs. 1.5–2.0 crore annually over a 40-year horizon
• Developed a Landscape & Horticulture venture targeting government tenders and institutional contractors
• Built commercial relationships with institutional buyers, brokers, and distributors across 3 regions — Gujarat, West Bengal, and North India — to support multi-state expansion

Marketing Executive at Ascent Corporate Solutions (2021-05 – 2023-05)

• Achieved a 92.3% client conversion rate as team lead, closing 12 of 13 pitches through consultative selling and negotiation
• Coordinated a 26-member group of vendors and stakeholders, directing 15 to 20 multi-channel commercial campaigns
• Directed ground-level activation for Patanjali's Atta Noodle launch, running live cooking and sampling pop-ups across Delhi NCR
• Executed trade marketing and retail activation for the Cadbury Dairy Milk Lolly launch across 300 Delhi NCR stores
• Organized 10+ national and international conferences with up to 1,300 attendees across five cities, including Dubai
• Ran a 3,500+ participant consumer survey for Mother Dairy to inform target market segmentation and positioning
• Recognized as Consistent Performing Employee, 2021

Market Research & GTM Strategy Intern at Maplebees Digital & Analytics LLP (2024-05 – 2024-07)

• Conducted a full market-entry feasibility study for Pediteq, a diabetic footwear brand evaluating its India launch — market sizing, segmentation, and price positioning (now live on Amazon, Myntra, Tata Cliq, and its own D2C platform)
• Sized the Indian diabetic footwear market opportunity at an estimated Rs. 5,800+ crore addressable opportunity, evaluating disease prevalence, income segmentation, and purchasing power to inform Pediteq's India market-entry strategy
• Structured go-to-market recommendations for Pediteq's India launch — target segments, pricing positioning, and channel strategy across e-commerce and D2C platforms
• Benchmarked competing diabetic footwear brands across e-commerce and D2C platforms in Indian and international markets using Semrush and Ubersuggest

Marketing & Business Development Trainee at Max-View Now & Mozohunt (2024-04 – 2024-04)

• Customer Discovery: Executed social media strategies that grew company presence by 20%+, identifying and qualifying 1,500 potential customer leads
• Retention Analysis: Implemented 3 strategies generating a Rs. 1,60,000 revenue increase, investigating 40 churn cases to identify root causes of subscription non-renewal

MBA in Marketing & Strategy – Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bodh Gaya (2023 – 2025)

Bachelor of Commerce (Honours – Marketing) – Swami Vivekanand Subharti University, (2018 – 2021)