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| Late Umendra Kumar Gupta |
The late Umendra Kumar Gupta
(hereinafter referred to as UKG), a veteran in the anticounterfeiting industry,
founder and former President of the Authentication Solution Providers
Association (ASPA) and CMD of Holostik India, was born in 1954 into a family of
freedom fighters and farmers from Dhampur in the Bijnor district of Uttar
Pradesh. His father, a farmer who emphasized ethics and hard work, taught his
children to live honestly, respect family values, and support one another.
UKG's parents established a foundation based on resilience and moral courage,
which continues to influence their descendants. Coming from a close-knit bonded
family of four brothers and two sisters, UKG after finishing his schooling at
Dhampur pursued BBA and MBA from Banaras Hindu University. All brothers
ventured into diverse businesses.
UKG, a man with
entrepreneurial spirit, did not
wait for the ‘right time’, he believed in creating opportunities rather than
waiting for them. The urge to build something of his own was evident from the
very beginning. Right after completing his education, he chose to start his own
venture instead of taking up a job. In the mid-1960s, polyethylene
entered India, and its plastic products gained popularity. UKG founded his
first venture in 1978 to produce polyethylene bags that had become fancy at
that time. He later pursued various projects including Sulfur crushing, water
tanks under the POLYWELL brand, and warehousing through his company United
Warehousing. His group of companies then were known as Ukay Group. The pivotal
moment was in 1991 when he established Holostik India, one of the earliest
hologram manufacturing companies in India, renaming his group of companies as
Holostik Group in 2008, marking the beginning of his legacy. Holostik under UKG’s leadership, quickly grew to
become the largest producer of holograms in the world. As the market evolved,
they expanded to become a comprehensive anti-counterfeiting solutions provider.
A remarkably self-driven individual, UKG believed in learning from every
experience and from every person he met. Life itself was his biggest teacher.
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| Expanding product range |
UKG was an ambitious hardworking entrepreneur and indulged
in products ahead of time. He continued to expand into new industries with
passion and foresight. In 2008, he launched United Multichem, a venture into
aroma chemicals and essential oils. In 2015, extending his global outreach for
holographic products, Holoprint was established in Dubai getting a foothold in the
Middle East and gradually expanding globally. In 2020, Holostik group invested
in sustainability by launching NaturTrust—a brand focused on biodegradable
products. Around the same time, CAMVEDA was launched to produce pure Camphor
products under United Multichem. In 2005, Holostik
began diversifying into holographic packaging foils and pouches, this marked their
entry into secure packaging. They also introduced shrink sleeves, security
labels in 2015 and mono-cartons in 2018 as
a part of packaging. This evolution was a natural extension of their core
mission to protect brands, ensure product authenticity, and offer end-to-end
solutions that combine innovation, trust, and performance.
Though UKG’s
first customer was Kores India Ltd., yet the turning point came in 1995 when T.
N. Seshan, the then Chief Election Commissioner of India, approved use of
holograms on Election ID cards. That endorsement not only validated the
technology but also opened the doors for widespread adoption across government
and private sector, initiating Holostik’s journey in secure packaging and
authentication. Another milestone came in 1999, they convinced the excise
department to implement holographic labels on liquor bottles as a measure to
prevent counterfeiting and revenue leakage. With a strong holography
background, entering the label business was new for Holostik. Security labels
weren’t just another product added in their range, these provide
anti-counterfeiting measures and authenticity while regular product labels are
meant for aesthetics or branding. Shifting focuses on continuous innovation and
extending security features to product labels, they also became a part of their
offerings.
All businesses in their path from
inception to growth come across hardships and difficult times, The fittest take
them in their stride and move on. UKG too faced many hardships and one of the
toughest ones was during his water tank business, his entire factory was
engulfed in a massive fire. It was something he built from scratch, and he was in
extreme emotional distress. A determined and resilient UKG built it all back as
Holostik, single handedly and moved ahead in life to grow his business. None
of his siblings were involved in the same business. Each of them chose
different paths and built careers in diverse sectors. He respected and
encouraged that individuality. Holostik was his own vision, nurtured independently,
he worked hard and kept taking it higher with innovation and creativity.
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| UKG, Vandana Gupta and sons |
UKG married, Vandana Gupta, in 1980, she is a
well-educated person having completed her B.Sc., M.Sc., and B.Ed. . UKG and
Vandana have two sons Ankit and Shobhit. She remains a pillar of strength for
her family. Vandana chose to be a home maker, but her influence on the
upbringing of her sons has been immense. While she was taking care of the
household, her husband was scaling up his business setting new benchmarks. In 2010, Holostik was recognized among the top 500
fastest-growing Indian companies by Inc. magazine, and in 2013, they
were named amongst the 'Most Innovative 100 Companies' by the same publication.
In 2017 they were recognised as a leading SME in IT and IT-enabled services company.
In 2019 their R&D labs were accredited by DSIR, receiving the prestigious
CII Industrial Innovation Award. He was one of the founding members of
Authentication Solution Providers Association (ASPA) and guided it to build
brand protection ecosystem in India. He was the recipient of the coveted Economic
Times Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.
Each of
these recognitions reflect UKG’s relentless pursuit of innovation and quality, a
legacy that his inheritors would continue to carry forward. He was a legend in
the holographic and authentication industry, sadly on the 1st of
June 2021, the legend Umendra Kumar Gupta aged 67 years, passed away!
The Gen-Next
Carrying
forward the legacy of their illustrious father U K Gupta are his two sons Ankit
and Shobhit as Joint Managing Directors. Both brothers complementing each other
are jointly leading the Holostik Group, which spans across multiple business
verticals including print and packaging, chemicals, and real estate—with
operations both in India and the Middle East. Shobhit specifically heads the
chemical division, oversees their Dubai operations besides managing key
segments of the packaging business. Their father was the guiding force behind Holostik. His presence
commanded immense respect, both within the organization and across the industry.
For both, stepping into their father’s shoes honoring his legacy, upholding the
values he built the company on, and carrying forward the trust he had earned
over decades was not an easy task. That transition eventually came to the duo with
a lot of emotional responsibility with renewed motivation to take Holostik to
even greater heights.
1981 born
Ankit Gupta did his initial schooling at Modern School, New Delhi and followed
it by Computer Engineering from Bangalore. Later he took a job in the Aditya
Birla Group in Mumbai, where he worked for two years gaining valuable exposure
to corporate operations, exposure to different functions, the scale at
which things operated. He then
pursued and completed his MBA at UCLA Anderson Los Angeles USA and IIM
Ahmedabad (exchange transfer program) thereby earning alumni status at both
institutions. Post-MBA, in 2007, he had a consulting job offer in Boston with a
$100,000 annual package but the entrepreneurial ambition prevailed, and he
decided to return to India and start his maiden venture in hospitality, setting
up a restaurant named 'Mocha in Delhi which he ran successfully for four years.
Finding real estate an exciting business, he quit the restaurant business and
began developing real estate projects in Gurgaon and later started a chemical
trading business focused on flavors and fragrances, which continues within the
Holostik group. In 2015, Ankit enrolled in the Owner/President Management (OPM)
program at Harvard Business School. It was a transformative three-year
experience spending a few months each year on the HBS campus, eventually
becoming an alumnus of Harvard.
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| Shobhit and Ankit Gupta |
At this juncture, Ankit decided to join the family business by becoming
involved in Holostik's HR, Marketing & Communications departments. Meanwhile
Holostik has evolved from being a prominent manufacturer of holograms and
labels to a comprehensive authentication solutions provider.
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| Shobhit and family |
His brother
Shobhit, holding an engineering degree from
Delhi College of Engineering, completed his MBA from the Richard Ivey School of
Business in Canada. He started his career at Evalueserve Gurgaon and later joined
Holostik in 2007. Together the brothers remain united by the common goal of
taking their father’s vision to new heights.
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| Ankit and family |
In 2007 Ankit got married to Neha, an engineer with an MBA, who started
her professional journey with HDFC Bank. For a brief period, she was involved
in business, initially supporting the Mocha hospitality project and then in
2008 she was involved in setting up the HR department at Holostik. Over time,
she explored different creative avenues, serving as the editor of a few
publications, and as a director at NIMAI, a niche jewellery brand. She
is now focused on raising her two
children, son Vivan 14 years studying in 9th and daughter Jiya 11 years studying
in 7th. Once the children are on their own, Neha may plan to return to some
profession. Shobhit got married in 2010 to Mansi, and they are blessed with two
children, son Aryaveer and daughter Nitara. Mansi has been a part of the sales
and marketing team at Bentley Motors. She is now involved in the group’s CAMVEDA business, guiding the team on marketing
initiatives. Both brothers express that the unwavering support of spouses has
been instrumental in helping them focus on building and growing Holostik.
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| One of the Shopfloors |
Talking about his mentorship, Ankit says, “My
father has been my greatest mentor, his values, clarity of thought, and
resilience continue to inspire me every single day. I stepped into the labels
and packaging space as a second-generation entrepreneur. With a huge legacy,
one inherits both the assets and responsibilities. It is not just about
enjoying the perks of what the first generation built, it is about carrying
that forward elevating it.” He further adds, “My most memorable success was
launching the Café Mocha brand in Delhi. It was my first independent venture
after returning from UCLA, it was a creative expression of what I had learned
about entrepreneurship, consumer experience, and brand building. Confident
after the success with Mocha, I could take on challenges when I eventually
joined in leadership role in Holostik with deep understanding to scale-up the
business.
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| Label press at Holoprint Dubai |
One of the biggest challenges for any
second-generation entrepreneur is earning respect, it takes time for people to
stop seeing you as just the founder’s son trusting your vision and decisions.
For me, that journey of achieving credibility and proving my approach took some time. For Shobhit, the
challenge was different. He took on the responsibility of starting Holoprint
from scratch and building it into a specialized entity to cater to
international markets. Establishing a new company under the larger umbrella of
Holostik, carving out its space, and scaling it to a new level was no small
feat. We’ve both faced different challenges, but what’s united us is the drive
to build on our father’s legacy while creating something of our own.
Ankit was conferred
on the prestigious Larry Wolfen Award for Entrepreneurial Spirit at UCLA in
2006. He has made presentations and shared technical papers at more than 20
events hosted by reputed organizations like CII, PHD Chamber, IHMA, ASPA, and
several other key platforms in the printing and packaging industry, engaging
with diverse audiences. In 2017, he was interviewed by Radio One as a Shark for
startup investments for sharing insights on entrepreneurship and what makes a
venture investable.
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| Holostik Corporate head office |
Both Shobhit and Ankit are committed to sustainability. One of their key
initiatives has been the installation of a 500 kWp solar power plant at the
Greater Noida manufacturing facility, reducing carbon footprint and embracing
clean energy. They have developed sustainable alternatives like paper holograms
and are exploring holography on wide web paper substrates to replace polyester.
The Holostik Group consists of seven diverse companies including Holostik
India, United Multichem, Holoprint, NaturTrust, Utopia Digitech, CAMVEDA,
ThinkNext Village, and United Services operating with a workforce of over 750.
They operate from more than seven state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities
spread across over 40,000 square meters. Their corporate headquarters are in
Okhla, New Delhi, apart from 12 offices strategically located across the
country. Holostik’s exports to more than 90 countries are a testament to their
quality, innovation, and reliability.
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| Another shop floor |
Ankit summed it up
interestingly on behalf of Shobhit and himself. The brothers are united in
delivering excellence to the legacy passed on to them by their father, the
legend; Umendra Kumar Gupta. He says, “Success does not come overnight—it is
built through consistency, perseverance, and staying true to your values. I
strongly believe in the philosophy of ‘Ek aur ek gyarah’—because when people
align with a shared purpose, 1 + 1 can truly become 11. Plan well, de-risk
wherever you can, and most importantly—keep going, no matter what. Or as I like
to say... Lage Raho Munna Bhai!"
(Lage Raho Munna Bhai! Is name of popular Indian
film but it actually means; Keep working brother! Or in the author’s
interpretation it means, “The show must go on!”)
Written
by Harveer Sahni Chairman Weldon Celloplast Limited New Delhi May 2025
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