Harshil Karia is a prominent entrepreneur and a defining figure in the Indian digital marketing landscape, currently serving as the founder and CEO of Schbang. Before establishing his current empire in 2015, Karia gained early recognition as a co-founder of FoxyMoron, an agency he helped start at the age of 21 and grew into a major market player.
Beyond the agency world, he is an active musician and a co-founder of Level Supermind, a high-performance wellness app that recently won Google Play’s App of the Year award in India.
Karia sat down with me for a podcast to discuss his ambitious plan to scale Schbang to a ₹300 crore revenue target. During our conversation, he detailed how the firm successfully navigated the previous financial year with a turnover of ₹230 crore while managing a massive team of 1,200 employees.
He emphasised his long-term goal of transforming an Indian agency into a global powerhouse, noting that while India is a premier labour market, it has yet to produce a marketing firm that truly dominates the international stage.
The entrepreneur explained that Schbang currently provides a mix of creative, media, and technology services to top-tier Indian corporates.
Harshil Karia noted that maintaining a 20% profit margin is the gold standard for healthy agencies. He admitted that his own margins fluctuated as the company rapidly grew from 300 to 1,200 staff members, requiring him to refine internal processes to ensure long-term stability.
Addressing the debate over whether service businesses can scale as effectively as product-based startups, Karia pointed out the high-value nature of agency work.
He explained that while a digital product might earn 1,000 rupees annually per user, a single agency relationship with a major brand can generate upwards of 50 crore in revenue.
For those looking to enter the creator economy as agency owners, he recommended starting with a specialized niche like AI deployment or performance marketing (an advertising strategy where brands pay only when specific actions, like a sale or a click, are completed).
Karia also provided insights into Level Supermind, the mental wellness app he co-founded alongside popular infotainment creator Ranveer Allahbadia.
The app has already secured over one million downloads and 75,000 paying subscribers by blending traditional Indian meditation practices with modern science.
Karia described the venture as a “mindfulness best friend in your pocket,” designed to help the younger generation improve their focus and cognitive performance through structured breathing and mantra meditation.
Reflecting on his career path, Karia was candid about the advantages of starting his journey in Mumbai, a major hub for India’s biggest brands.
He credited his ability to take early entrepreneurial risks to a lack of immediate financial pressure at home, which allowed him to focus entirely on building his first agency.
With Schbang already operating in international markets like London and Amsterdam, Harshil Karia continues to advocate for high service standards and deep specialization as the primary drivers for any Indian creator or entrepreneur looking to build a lasting legacy.
