WYP is Wondrlab’s first acquisition and its founder Amit Akali will now be co-founder and chief creative officer at Wondrlab Saurabh Varma’s newly founded platform-first martech company, Wondrlab has announced its first acquisition with What’s Your Problem (WYP), a media-agnostic and integrated creative agency started over five years ago. WYP is one of the fastest-growing creative agencies in India, which has won accolades at international awards like Cannes Lions and Clio, along with Content Agency of the year at Goafest. It has also been one of the most awarded agencies from India at the APAC Effies. Amit Akali, Founder – MD & CCO at WYP will now be the co-founder at Wondrlab. WYP will become a part of Wondrlab’s content platform, while retaining its identity as a separate brand. The acquisition comes just a month after Wondrlab’s launch and will be followed by a series of high-impact reveals. Wondrlab is believed to have already bagged 25 clients and will have over 100 employees by December 2020. Talking about the company’s first acquisition, Saurabh Varma, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Wondrlab, says, “I had the opportunity to watch WYP during a pitch and was incredibly impressed by their thinking, passion and ability to solve clients’ problems in a meaningful way. I decided to connect with Amit and over a few conversations realised that we had the same purpose and belief in the kind of work we wanted to do. We both believed in the power of creativity and the future which data and technology can serve us. We both felt that our future is in building our own platforms. It is truly amazing seeing WYPs journey and the incredible job Tejas Mehta, Ruchita Zambre and the entire team has done and the reputation they’ve built for it. I am proud that Amit joins us as a co-founder. I could not have asked for a better partner to help us shape and drive our creative firepower. WYP is our first acquisition and we will continue to curate, partner, launch and acquire as we move forward.” Akali comes with nearly 25 years of experience. Before founding WYP, he was National Creative Director at Grey India, along with being part of the Grey Global Creative Council. Elaborating on joining the Wondrlab network, Amit Akali, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer, WYP says, “What we’ve achieved at WYP has been phenomenal. Today, we are a 60-member team at our new BKC office in Mumbai. The momentum in the last year has been even greater, with us being probably the only agency that’s grown manifold in the lockdown. We’ve been lucky to create some of the most talked-about work in the last few months, be it the iconic Johnnie Walker Travelling Billboard, Tanishq ‘Ekatvam’ or the IPL campaign for Dailyhunt. A big thanks to Praful who helped me start WYP with the other co-founders, Tejas who has played a key role in our growth and continues to do so, along with every past and present employee who has always looked at WYP as their own family and given it their all. We are thrilled to be a part of Wondrlab. I am excited about the new, even larger, playing field we’re getting. The integration is almost seamless as the vision is identical. In a digital-first era, platformisation and technology are the drivers of customised solutions for brands.” Akali adds, “When I first spoke to Saurabh and the other co-founders Vandana and Rakesh, it was uncanny how we share the same goals, ambitions and ideals. Together we aim to be a technology and creative powerhouse.” Launched in 2020, Wondrlab is the brainchild of founders Saurabh Varma, Vandana Verma and Rakesh Hinduja; and is a power-packed mix of creativity, experience and technology. All three held senior positions at the Publicis Groupe in the past, and bring to Wondrlab a deep understanding of human behaviour, brands on platforms. On the other hand What’s Your Problem is one of India’s fastest-growing independent agencies with some of the biggest clients in the country, having worked on Amazon, Flipkart, ITC foods, ITC personal care, Diageo. Its client roster today includes Future Generali, Tanishq, DailyHunt, Spotify, John Players, Ajio, Rohan Builders, Arrow, DS Foods and Zee5.