40 Under 40 nominee Sanket Bhatt is the founder of Dhinchak Media, JeevOne Welfare Foundation, and the Maharashtra head of Yuva Sena Animal Welfare Force. He studied in Bombay and earned his BMM in Advertising from Mumbai University. Soon after, Sanket went to France for his Master’s in Events and Sports at KEDGE Business School in Marseille.
Reflecting on his journey, Sanket reveals,
“Being in the South of France gave me the opportunity to work on some of the biggest properties in the world, the Tour de France, the Grand Prix, Tomorrowland, and Ultra Music Festival. However, I started my first venture at the age of 15; that was the start of my journey into events and media. After two decades, I decided to “reboot” my career to focus on something I’m deeply passionate about, and that is animal welfare.”
Entrepreneurial Spirit
Sanket also talks about designing an entire concept for the Yuva Sena Animal Welfare Force (the youth wing of the Shiv Sena) to create a dedicated animal welfare division that uses their network and influence to make a real difference while bringing structure and accountability to the system.
His social entrepreneurship journey began through the JeevOne Welfare Foundation, that design products and services for stray animals to make their lives better.
In between all his ventures, the common thread is the media and events sector. Sanket has been in this space for 20 years, moving from the smallest events to the largest. Looking back, he shares,
“Back when we started, the company was called Moksh WRTS. We were a small event management firm doing birthday parties and brand activations. My co-founder and I then built Dhinchakmumbai.com. At the time, we were doing a lot of college festivals. Events are a ‘cash cow’ for colleges, but colleges wouldn’t just entertain an event management company pitching for contracts.”
Sanket decided to create the media portal to get access. They would promote college festivals on the website, which built a massive college network. From there, brands started approaching Sanket for their access to students across multiple states. Production followed, and the team went on to work with Vir Das, while also handling production for the India tours of Jay Shetty, Daniel Sloss, Louis C.K., and Honey Singh. The company also executed college activations for films produced by Dharma Productions, Yash Raj Films, and T-Series, taking movie stars to campuses across the country.
About the Ventures
Dhinchak Media is currently based in Mumbai but operates on a global platform, with work across the UK and the US as well. He adds,
“Dhinchak Media was founded by me and my close friend from school, Rohit Nighot. We started our journey together in school, selling video games. If you’re a 90s kid, you’ll remember the brand Mitashi!”
Today, the core business is event management, which serves as the backbone of the company. Under the Live division, it handles corporate events, sporting events, music festivals, artist touring, and multi-city concerts worldwide. The Content division produces ad films, corporate movies, and line production projects, and has also worked on Netflix specials such as Vir Das: For India, Landing, and Happy Patel, along with series like Uncommon Sense With Saloni. Sanket also shares,
“Dhinchak Media is now largely automated. We have a great team and a niche set of clients. My routine is mostly focused on building JeevOne and Yuva Sena Animal Welfare Force. I still step in for all the “big ticket” events, but the system handles the day-to-day.”
Alongside this, JeevOne Welfare Foundation focuses on animal welfare through tech-driven services, including JeevOne Lifeline, animal ambulances built from modified e-bikes, a quick-commerce style app for emergency animal response, micro-clinics for subsidised pet and stray care, and live events like India Paw Week to support revenue and awareness. JeevOne plans to generate revenue through events like India Paw Week, a fashion show for pets.
Rocky Road
The biggest challenge in the early years was trust. He started at 15, and few people were willing to trust a teenager with a major event. Event management also carried a very different perception then, and even his family saw it as limited to basic tent work. Since the company was bootstrapped, every step had to be built through on-ground execution, reputation, and patience.
In those days, the work was far more manual, with limited equipment and plenty of last-minute fixes, so the team often relied on ‘jugaad’ to keep shows running. Sanket also explains that over time, the industry changed, technology improved, and what was once seen as a messy, low-recognition profession became a much more structured business.
Celebrating Wins
Some of Sanket’s professional achievements include contributing to the production of an International Emmy Awards-winning comedy special featuring Vir Das, along with four Guinness World Records and six Limca Book of Records recognitions for client events. He says,
“Currently, we are doing a lot in the gaming sector, organizing tournaments and creating very exclusive, collectible merchandise for gaming brands.”
On the media side, Sanket and his work have been featured in The Free Press Journal, PressReader, ExpressO Talks, YourStory, Humans of Bombay, and The Rodinhoods.
Plans Ahead
Sanket shares that the next three to five years are about scaling JeevOne to a pan-India level. They are testing the pilot models in Mumbai now and want to expand the ambulance service and build India’s biggest network for animal feeders. Sanket also envisions developing a skill-building division to create employment opportunities within the animal welfare ecosystem.
With a head full of dreams, Sanket talks about the lessons he learned in his journey. He believes that consistency is what matters the most and that you have to show up whether the day is good or bad. In events, there are no second chances, so when something goes wrong, you do not get to wait around for recovery. He has learned to rebuild fast, take ownership in the moment, and find his own solutions instead of expecting them to arrive on their own.
As he signs off, he leaves a note for the budding entrepreneurs. He declares,
“Try to preserve your innocence. As you work and meet different kinds of people, that excitement and goodness can start to fade. Every bad experience makes you sharper and more resourceful, but it can take away your “innocence.” Try to keep that part of yourself, because while everything else can be rebuilt, once you lose that, you can’t get it back.”
