Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India / New Delhi, India, April 2025 – Samunnati, a leading agri value chain enabler, has announced the appointment of Mr. Venkatesh Raja as the Group Chief Human Resources Officer – Designate for the company. Samunnati has been strategically strengthening its people-first approach leadership team by appointing industry experts in strategic positions to drive future growth and innovation.
A distinguished human resource leader, brand strategist, and organizational architect, Mr. Venkatesh Raja brings with him nearly three decades of transformative leadership experience. His career spans leadership roles across renowned organizations including Shoppers Stop, Sterling Holiday Resorts, Reliance Industries, Reliance Infocomm, MTS, and Future Group.
Prior to joining Samunnati, Mr. Venkatesh Raja served as the CHRO-designate at Shoppers Stop, where he played a pivotal role in driving cultural transformation, talent management, and organizational excellence. His expertise in crafting people-centric strategies and building high-performing, cross-functional teams has established him as a respected leader in the HR fraternity.
In addition to his corporate achievements, Mr. Venkatesh Raja is a certified Marshall Goldsmith coach, a passionate mentor, an avid reader, and a national weightlifting champion — a reflection of his commitment to holistic personal and professional development.
At Samunnati, Mr. Venkatesh Raja will lead the organization’s people strategy, focusing on enhancing culture, and strengthening leadership capabilities to align with the company’s mission of transforming the agricultural ecosystem.
Welcoming him to the team, Anil Kumar SG, Founder and CEO of Samunnati, said, “We are thrilled to have Mr. Venkatesh Raja join us at this crucial phase of our journey. His rich experience and people-first leadership approach will be instrumental in shaping the next chapter of growth and innovation at Samunnati.”
The recent strategic leadership appointments are part of Samunnati’s broader vision to mobilize the organization toward greater innovation, people-centric growth, and agricultural landscape prominence — empowering small-holders farmers and the agri community at large, in alignment with its mission of building Samunnati 2.0.
About Samunnati
India’s largest agri enterprise, Samunnati is an open agri network aiming to unlock the trillion-dollar-plus potential of Indian agriculture with smallholder farmers at the center of it.
Serving the entire value chain, Samunnati’s Agri Commerce and Agri Finance solutions enable affiliated Farmer Collectives and the larger ecosystem to be more efficient and productive through multiple technology-enabled interventions and collaborative partnerships. Headquartered in Chennai, the company operates across 22 states and over 100 agri value chains, supporting over 1,500 Farmer Collectives with a base of 6 million farmers. Samunnati has powered over $1 billion in gross transaction value and aims to impact one in every four Indian farming households by 2027.
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