Domestic handset maker Lava restructures board; Sunil Raina joins as director

Lava's executive director Sunil Raina.

Lava International has restructured its board, with the company's executive director Sunil Raina and chief manufacturing officer Sanjeev Agarwal joining as directors, the home-grown handset maker has said.

Anupam Shrivastava, a former managing director of BSNL, and Ajay Kumar Singh, former Lt Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Puducherry, joined as independent directors, the company said on May 24.

With the four new appointments, Lava now has a seven-member board. Co-founders Shailendra Nath Rai, Sunil Bhalla, and Vishal Sehgal were already part of the board.

"We are happy to introduce the board members who shall be at the helm of driving the company’s vision and brand’s growth. The newly constituted board is a perfect blend of seasoned Lava leadership members, founders, and highly accomplished professionals with diverse backgrounds,” Raina said.

The company said last week that Hari Om Rai, former Managing director, resigned from the board in the last financial year. Rai no longer holds a directorial position in the company.

Rai was arrested by the ED on October 10 on charges of money laundering in the case against Vivo-India.

The handset maker said the appointment of new board members was aimed at driving the company's next phase of growth and innovation.

Lava International is looking to secure fresh funds from private equity investors to grow its smartphone business.

Raina told Moneycontrol on April 23 that the company was in touch with domestic and international investors to raise Rs 250-300 crore.

He also said the company was working on an initial public offering and expected to launch an IPO in the next two to three years.

The company plans to invest Rs 500 crore in research and development (R&D) and marketing over the next two or three years.

To grow its revenue, the company has forayed into the already crowded smartwatch market and aims to sell half a million of them, worth Rs 100 crore, by the end of this fiscal year.