On Purpose eyes scale with strategic investment from PR veterans Rishi Seth and Zach James

PR Industry veterans Zach James and Rishi Seth have announced a significant equity investment in ON PURPOSE, a mid-sized communications firm specialising in social impact and sustainability. Both Zach and Rishi bring over three decades of management and entrepreneurial experience to ON PURPOSE. Their backgrounds include leadership roles at prominent firms such as BCW Global, Six Degrees PR, Alphabet Consulting and Text 100. Most recently, both joined 'The PRactice' as strategic investor.

The partnership is designed to leverage the operational expertise of James and Seth to accelerate On Purpose’s growth trajectory. Key objectives include transitioning the firm toward a retainer-led revenue model and strengthening senior leadership depth.

Despite the investment, On Purpose will continue to operate independently of the investors' other interests, maintaining its strict focus on social impact and its refusal to represent polluting industries. Founder Girish Balachandran will remain at the helm as CEO."

Ahead of the announcement, Zach James, Rishi Seth and ON PURPOSE founder, Girish Balachandran spoke to PRmoment India on the investment.

Zachary James confirmed, "It is going to be a significant investment. Girish will continue to retain his share also. What this translates into is that both Rishi and I are going to be very involved in— On Purpose and working with, Girish and his team and clients very, very closely. Purpose-led communications is no longer a niche, it sits at the centre of reputation, regulation, talent, and long-term business value. Our investment in ON PURPOSE is a bet on building a model where impact is measurable, growth is predictable, and storytelling is built for a world shaped by AI, platforms, and rising accountability from stakeholders."

Rishi Seth added "We are really excited that Girish agreed to see thd value that Zach and I bring and give us equity stake. And that’s what makes it interesting. We’re not doing this for a fee or an assignment. We are putting stake in the company. We are long-term partners on this and, without getting into specifics, equal stakeholders in the future of the company."

Girish Balachandran, founder, ON PURPOSE, said, “The decision of professionals of Zach and Rishi’s calibre to join us is a strong endorsement of our model and vision. Their deep experience across corporate communications, public affairs, and technology PR complements our focus on social impact. Their partnership will be invaluable in scaling our capabilities and client solutions.”

Apart from growth and scale, the objectives of the partnership include helping the firm to move to a. more predictable retainer-led growht and strengthening senior leadership depth beyond the first line of leadership.

ON PURPOSE and The PRactice: How will they work together?

 Seth and James made a similar investment in 'The PRactice' two years ago. They confirmed that Girish Balachandran and Nandita Lakshmanan will continue to be CEOs' in ON PURPOSE and The PRactice respectively. 

James explains, "Going forward, there are going to be synergies and collaboration that we look for within the two organizations to try and make them more efficient and strengthen their capabilities. They’re two complementary firms that bring very distinct specialisations. But I think what the founders, share is, values that are common. The Practice's specialization is around corporate reputation, leadership comms, B2B tech, stakeholder relations while On Purpose it’s more, you know, development comms, purpose, CSR, advocacy, behaviour change, sustainability. 

And if you look at the client mix also, 'The PRactice' works with Fortune 500 companies, unicorns like Rapido,  global tech, and On Purpose works with multilaterals, foundations, and NGOs. Together it’s a very powerful combination in my opinion. At one hand you have the scale of The PRactice and on the other, you know, you have this super successful and social ambition that Girish and his team have at On Purpose."

Seth says, "As Zach mentioned, Nandita is comfortable with this and Girish is also with comfortable this arrangement which means they don’t see inherently any conflict or any challenge in—which impacts the growth of each other, in fact they only see enhancement of that growth. Even operationally, the best practices that On Purpose has and the best elements that The Practice has is what Zach and I can kind of glue and make sure that kind of helps both firms.  Like what some of the larger networks might have at in a much more structured way, this is much more of an incubation engine."