Star Squared PR Turns Ten, And Wants To Double Everything Again
Star Squared PR has marked ten years, with an offsite in Kuala Lumpur from 24 to 26 September and a stated plan to double its global client portfolio and workforce over the next three to four years.
- Agency: Star Squared PR, headquartered in Bengaluru
- Founded by: Priyan DC, after more than two decades in communications including leading Ogilvy PR's South India practice
- Started with: two employees, in a shared office space
- Now: more than 200 Indian and international clients worked with over the decade
- Model: hub and spoke, with partners across Singapore, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom
What Star Squared PR Is Actually Claiming
The number worth looking at is not the client count. The agency says average retainer relationships run beyond six years, that global brands now account for over 40 per cent of the portfolio, and that it has grown at a compound annual rate of 20 per cent. All of those are the agency's own figures rather than audited ones.
Retainer length is the one that is hardest to manufacture. New business can be bought with a pitch team and a discount. A six-year average means clients kept deciding not to leave, which is a different and slower achievement.
The Market It Grew In
Star Squared PR cites the Indian public relations industry growing 11 per cent in FY26 to reach 3,230 crore rupees, and accounting for 12.6 per cent of the Asia-Pacific market. Those industry figures are quoted by the agency in its announcement.
The agency says a significant part of its growth, in India and overseas, came through referrals from existing clients rather than from pitching, which is consistent with the retainer figure and unusual enough to be worth noting.
Where The People Come From
Around half to 60 per cent of the team comes from a journalism background, which the agency credits for its ability to balance what a client wants to say against what a journalist will actually use. Several of the current senior leadership joined in the early years, and some former employees have returned.
Priyan DC, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, said what means most is seeing long-standing clients continue, colleagues who joined early grow into leadership, and former team members return.
Santosh Chandrashekar, Associate Partner and the first employee to join ten years ago, said the offsites have become an anniversary tradition, and that watching most of the team take a first international trip made the distance travelled visible. The Kuala Lumpur programme included a workshop on communications in an AI-led search environment. More industry news.