Following a fatal cardiac arrest at his home in Karjat, Sidharth Rao, co-founder and former CEO of Webchutney, passed away on Friday, April 21, 2023. His untimely demise has shaken the advertising world and left the industry in disbelief.
He founded the new age digital agency in July 1999 and successfully developed it in to a full service agency. Webchutney was acquired by Dentsu in 2013 and he helmed it as its CEO till September 2022. Denstu Webchutney’s work got huge recognitions in previous edition of Cannes.He also served as Group Chief Executive Officer – Dentsu mcgarrybowen Group India between January 2021 to September 2022.
Sidharth was also an angel investor. Since 2013 he has invested in more than a dozen startups including ScoopWhoop and Pepper Content.
He Co-Founded Punt Partners in September 2022.
An official statement from Punt Partners on Rao’s demise read, “It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our friend and founder, Sidharth Rao. He suffered a fatal cardiac arrest on the 21st of April at his home in Karjat. Sid’s sudden demise has left us all in shock, and and we request everyone’s time to grieve the loss of our beloved friend, son, brother, husband and colleague. Sid’s family is especially thankful for all the condolences and messages of support during this time.”
Some immediate industry reactions:
lost a very dear friend. go well @sidharthrao 😢
have no words how much he meant to me 🙁— Anand Jain (@helloanand) April 21, 2023
