Percept Live Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Percept Limited and the creators of Sunburn – Asia’s leading dance music festival and ranked among the top three live music festivals globally, announced the appointments of Nikhil Uniyal as Business Head and Sonal Shah as Head – Brand Partnership and Sponsorship Sales, effective February 1, 2026.
These strategic leadership appointments underscore Percept Live’s sharpened focus on accelerating growth, strengthening monetisation, and scaling its portfolio of high-impact live, hybrid, and content-led Intellectual Properties (IPs) across India and global markets.
Percept Live pioneers immersive live and digital experiences that connect brands with millions of consumers worldwide. Each IP is purpose-built to engage distinct audiences, offering brands year-round, high-impact, multi-sensory platforms across music, culture, sports, fashion, and lifestyle. The company owns and curates a dynamic portfolio of marquee IPs across live and hybrid formats, including Bollyboom – the world’s first and largest Bollywood Dance Music Festival; EPL (Eat Play Love) – a vibrant celebration of food, music, and art; Windsong – an exclusive adventure music festival rooted in storytelling and the arts; IMS (India Model Search) – India’s only transparent and inclusive platform for aspiring fashion models; and XCC (Xtreme Combat Championship) – a high-octane, multi-gender combat sports property fused with fashion, food, and music.
As part of this leadership strengthening initiative, Nikhil Uniyal has been appointed Business Head, entrusting him with driving the company’s next phase of growth and monetisation. Nikhil brings over 16 years of experience across media and marketing, with expertise in growth, business development, revenue leadership, and IP creation. He has led large-scale campaigns across ATL, BTL, and digital platforms, and specialises in building and monetising intellectual properties through consumer insight-led strategies and optimised sales systems.
Prior to joining Percept Live, Nikhil held senior leadership roles at Wondrlab India, ENIL (Radio Mirchi), The Times of India Group (Red Cell), and GroupM (MEC), where he scaled IP-led business models, delivered double-digit profitability improvements, and boosted operational business efficiencies across Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai markets. In his new role, he will steer the strategic growth and diversification of Percept Live’s businesses across live entertainment, content production, talent management, marketing communications, driving innovation, monetisation, and expansion across domestic & international markets.
Further strengthening the leadership team, Sonal Shah has been appointed Head – Brand Partnership and Sponsorship Sales, and will lead the company’s sponsorship, brand solutions, and revenue partnerships mandate. Sonal brings over 26 years of experience in ad sales, brand solutions, influencer marketing, and experiential sales, with a strong track record across linear television, OTT, digital, social media, and live events.
Before joining Percept Live, Sonal held senior leadership roles at ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. and Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, where she led large-scale branded content, influencer-led campaigns, live events, and sponsorship-driven initiatives across entertainment, youth, lifestyle, and sports properties. Her career highlights include driving exponential revenue growth, consistently exceeding targets, building high-impact brand partnerships, and delivering integrated sales solutions across on-ground events, broadcast, OTT, and social platforms. At Percept Live, she will focus on strengthening the sponsorship ecosystem, unlocking integrated brand opportunities, and driving scalable, high-value partnerships across the company’s IP portfolio.
Nikhil Uniyal, Business Head, Percept Live, said, “Percept Live stands at a powerful intersection of culture, content, technology, and scale. I’m excited to lead the business at a time when live entertainment is evolving into a year-round, always-on engagement platform for brands and consumers alike. With a strong portfolio of IPs and an experienced leadership team, our focus will be on amplifying impact, driving innovation, and building sustainable, future-ready growth engines that position Percept Live as a global benchmark in immersive entertainment.”
Sonal Shah, Head – Brand Partnership and Sponsorship Sales, Percept Live, added, “Percept Live’s IPs are cultural powerhouses with unmatched scale, relevance, and emotional connect. I’m thrilled to be part of this journey and look forward to building deeper, more meaningful brand partnerships that go beyond visibility to deliver measurable value, creativity, and long-term equity. Together, we aim to create sponsorship ecosystems that are immersive, integrated, and truly transformational for brands.”
Karan Singh, CEO, Percept Live, said, “As Percept Live accelerates its expansion across geographies and platforms, we’re pleased to welcome Nikhil Uniyal and Sonal Shah to the leadership team. Their appointments significantly strengthen our leadership depth at a time when live experiential businesses are evolving into powerful, always-on growth engines. Nikhil’s ability to build and monetise IP-led businesses, combined with Sonal’s proven expertise in creating high-value sponsorship and brand partnership ecosystems, positions us to accelerate scale, sharpen monetisation, and build future-ready platforms. I’m confident they will play a pivotal role in shaping Percept Live’s next chapter of growth and global relevance.”
With the dynamic addition of Nikhil Uniyal and Sonal Shah to the senior cadre, Percept Live is poised to accelerate its next chapter of growth, strengthening its position as a category leader and cultural catalyst across the live entertainment, content, and experiential marketing ecosystems.