Zoo Media has elevated Kartik Khanna and Rehan Dadachanji, co-founders of The Starter Labs, as partners and co-founders of the network.

The Starter Labs was partially acquired by Zoo Media in 2022. Khanna and Dadachanji built the agency into a team of around 100 people working across industries and markets. Following the acquisition, the duo continued to lead its growth while contributing to other businesses and functions within the network.

In their new roles, the two will focus on expanding the use of AI across workflows and creative disciplines, strengthening research capabilities and advancing performance marketing and creative output. They will also work on developing outcome-led client engagement and pricing models.

Khanna will focus on customer-first, direct-to-consumer (D2C) and performance-led full-funnel campaigns, while Dadachanji will work on integrating specialist teams across Zoo Media to build solutions for client mandates.

Suveer Bajaj and Pratik Gupta, co-founders, FoxyMoron, said, “Kartik and Rehan have been integral to the Zoo Media journey over the past few years not only in scaling The Starter Labs, but also in contributing their entrepreneurial energy, operating expertise and client understanding across the wider network. Their elevation to partners reflects the trust they have earned and the leadership role they will play as Zoo Media continues to evolve. Their combined experience will be invaluable as we continue to build more connected, responsive and future-ready solutions across the network.”

Dadachanji added, “We want to make Zoo Media the country’s most sought-after network for Indian and global brands. We have the opportunity to build an Indian independent network that can compete at scale internationally, while retaining our entrepreneurial and specialist thinking. Over the last 10 years, our goals have been consistent – to drive business outcomes for the brands we work with.”

Khanna said, “The idea is to go beyond individual agencies and build a truly connected network, while staying more integrated, more effective and more relevant to how businesses are evolving."