Samir Bangara: Industry loses one of its best visionaries

Friends and colleagues of Bangara, who was Co-Founder and Managing Director of Qyuki Digital Media, say he will be missed for his passion for music, tech, and more so for his warmth and energy

e4m by exchange4media Staff
Published: Jun 15, 2020 8:20 AM  | 5 min read
Samir Bangara
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Samir Bangara, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Qyuki Digital Media, passed away in a road accident on Sunday. He is survived by his wife and two teenage children.

Sharing the news of his demise, COO of his company Sagar Gokhale, shared a statement, “It is with great sorrow that we inform you that our leader, mentor and trusted friend, Samir Bangara passed away in an accident this morning. We are all in a state of complete and utter despair and words will do no justice to express this loss. But it is our duty to absorb this shock for now so that we can be there for each other especially for his family, just the way Samir would have liked us to.”

It further read, “On behalf of Qyuki and all our allies, we seek your support. Given the pandemic, please send your prayers from home until such time as we have more information to share with you.”

A visionary, Bangara started his career in venture capital with IL&FS venture corporation. He then moved on to being an investment banker focused on the tech space with Ernst & Young, where he drove several US sell side mandates in the IT services BPO and wireless sector as a Vice President in the M&A team.

In 2005, Bangara joined Indiagames, a company involved in the seed funding round. He was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Indiagames. There, he worked for over six years and headed strategy, operations and business of the company, growing it from about $3m in gross sales to about $60m in gross sales by 2012. Along the way, the company pivoted a few times from a business and shareholder perspective coming under the UTV group in 2007.

In October 2012, along with the Founder and other key management, he led the sale of Indiagames to The Walt Disney Company. Later he led Digital for the Disney group in India as Managing Director - Digital with the responsibility of integrating and growing the businesses of Indiagames, Disney Interactive and UTV Interactive. He held the role for nine months. In December 2012, Bangara decided to move on from Disney. Later in June 2012, he joined H2.co as founding- co-chair India.

In 2013, Bangara met Shekhar Kapur and AR Rahman and ended up co- founding Qyuki.

At exchange4media, we reached out to Bangara's friends and colleagues to pen a memoriam on him.

Amin Lakhani, COO, Mindshare South Asia, says Bangara will be missed for his passion for music, tech, and more so for his warmth and energy. "The news has been shocking. Samir will be missed for his passion for music, tech and more so for his warmth and energy that was so infectious. RIP and strength to his family," he said.
Some of Bangara's friends and colleagues paid their tributes of Twitter.

Abhishek Joshi, Head of Marketing & Business Partnerships, MX Player, termed Bangara's demise as a "big loss" for him as well as the industry. "I met Sam about 10 years ago and he stood out for his extremely sharp mind and politeness and always had a smile. I fondly remember the chat in his office about his passion for bikes and he had a glint in his eyes discussing it. It's a big loss for me personally and the industry at larg. RIP Sam," remembered Joshi.

Blaise Fernandes, President & CEO of Indian Music Industry (IMI), feels the best tribute to Bangara’s memory would be that many young women and men try and walk in his footsteps.
"Sameer Bangara’s tragic passing away is a loss for new India which created entrepreneurs like Sameer who went out there to create new intellectual properties for the digital world and did a fantastic job despite the competition from both domestic and international players. The best tribute to Sameer’s memory would be is many young women and men try and walk in his footsteps," Fernandes said.

Devendra Deshpande, Head-business and growth, Friday Filmworks, said the industry has lost one of its best visionaries. "Samir was a man of many facets. Brilliant, honest, articulate, thirsty for knowledge, trendsetter and one of the most dynamic entrepreneurs I have met. His ideas were always ahead of times and collaborating with him was not just exciting but a huge learning experience as well. Some of the concepts he had passionately pursued a few years back, one can witness them becoming industry benchmarks now. Above all, I have always seen him prioritise values and relationships over business. Magnitude of the personal loss apart, we have lost one of the best visionaries in the media and entertainment business. That void will remain. His presence will be missed... His legacy will live," shared Deshpande.

Published On: Jun 15, 2020 8:20 AM 
Tags Qyuki digital media Samir bangara demise A R Rahman

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