Business Daily

We hear how karate, being laughed out of a bank boardroom in a cash-obsessed country helped shape one of India’s most valuable fintech companies. Harshil Mathur shares how discipline, resilience and a leap of faith helped him build Razorpay into a $7.5 billion company at the heart of India’s digital payments revolution. If you'd like to get in touch with the team, our email address is businessdail...

This week, Michelle, Rahul and Will explore the world of dynamic pricing, where prices go up when demand is high and come down when demand drops. It’s already standard in travel and hospitality. Now, it’s expanding into live events, and this year, it reached the World Cup. Supporters say it’s simple economics, charging what people are willing to pay. Critics argue it risks pricing ordinary fans ou...

Renowned for its multi-step skincare routine and its foundation in the ever trendy Korean culture, K-beauty has become a multi-billion dollar industry across the globe. The term covers a wide range of skincare, make-up and cosmetics from South Korea and is lauded for its quality and value. But as demand grows, tens of thousands of companies are claiming to be K-beauty, and not all of them are base...

Many graduates are reluctant to work in the country’s large tourism and service sectors, looking instead for roles that match their university skills. That can make finding a first job after graduating a real challenge. Presenter/producer: Ashish Sharma If you’d like to get in touch with the team, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk (Picture: Spanish Secretary of State for Labour Joaquin...

From cafes and gyms to supermarkets and restaurants, content creators are moving into everyday spaces, searching for attractive backdrops for their photos and videos. But as the influencer economy grows, their presence is dividing companies, customers and creators. Megan Lawton speaks to business owners, influencers and digital culture experts about what the rules should be. Presenter: Megan Lawto...

Nigeria pharmacist Abimbola Adebakin tells us how a failed start-up and the struggle to access essential medicines inspired her to build Advantage Health Africa, a company connecting pharmacies and helping deliver medicines across Nigeria. Presenter: Leanna Byrne Producer Amber Mehmood (Photo: Abimbola Adebakin. Credit: Studio 24)

This week, Michelle, Rahul and Will explore prediction markets — online platforms where people can bet on future events, from elections to pop culture and even world conflicts. Concerns about insider trading are on the rise and platforms are being banned in an increasing number of countries. So as talk of regulation increases, we try to predict the future of the prediction market. Presenters: Mich...

When the Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz's closure disrupted global oil supply, some experts predicted crude oil prices as high as $150, or even $200 per barrel. That hasn't happened. Why not? And is it because the way the global oil markets work mean the pain for households and businesses is still to come? Presenter: Ed Butler Producer: Josh Martin (Photo: Getty/matejmo)

Biohackers say they are making their bodies and brains run better by hacking their biology. And it is not just kitchen counter experimentation anymore. There is now an entire industry promising to optimise you with supplements, treatments and increasingly strange gadgets. Are these expensive, unproven “hacks” worth the investment? To get in touch with the team, send an email to businessdaily@bbc.c...

It is an invaluable material that has enabled global trade and modern medicine, but experts say our reliance on plastic has created a problem the planet is struggling to manage. With plastic waste threatening landscapes and our health, we meet innovators from the UK, Ecuador and India who are trying to get the global economy off its reliance on plastic. Presenter: Sam Gruet Producer: Megan Lawton...

On Meet the Founders, we meet Luana Lopes Lara, creator of Kalshi, a prediction markets startup that allows users to trade on the outcome of real-world events - from inflation and interest rates to elections and geopolitics. Kalshi drew attention for showing Zohran Mamdani as a favourite in the NYC mayoral race, as prediction markets gain traction as political barometers. But the wider industry ha...

A California jury tossed out Elon Musk's high-profile lawsuit against OpenAI and its boss Sam Altman. But who actually wins and what does this public row mean for the reputation of their companies? Michelle Fleury and Rahul Tandon are joined by the BBC's Lily Jamali, who spent weeks in court following the twists and turns in a battle of the tech titans. Producer: Gideon Long You can email us: busi...

How will President Trump get on with Kevin Warsh, who is starting out as the Chair of the Federal Reserve, America's Central Bank? Trump famously clashed with his predecessor Jerome Powell. Can the US central bank remain truly independent from the government? Presenter: Ed Butler Producer: Josh Martin (Photo: Kevin Warsh testifies during a Senate Banking Committee confirmation hearing at the US Ca...

In the 1990s, the video game industry was locked in competition between gaming giants Sega and Nintendo, battling for dominance in living rooms around the world as they raced to deliver the best games on their consoles while attacking one another in advertising. This rivalry reshaped the landscape of gaming, helping it grow into the world’s biggest entertainment industry today. We hear from Sega A...

Data centres are becoming and ever bigger part of our daily lives and our landscapes – great big warehouses, packed with computers, that power pretty much every digital thing we do, from using AI chatbots or filing our tax returns. They’ve popped up around the world in recent years and – whether we like it or not - more are coming. But people don’t necessarily want to live next to these places. Th...

Jennifer Riria grew up in a rural village in Kenya, juggled motherhood and university studies in her late teens, and ended up running one of the biggest microfinance institutions for women in Africa, which allows women to access loans for their businesses. The entrepreneur pioneered giving small loans to women at a time when they were not allowed to get finance. We hear about her story in life and...

As US President Donald Trump travels to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, we look at the tensions and the relationship between the world's two biggest economies. Presenter: Will Bain, Michelle Fleury and Rahul Tandon Producer: Gideon Long (Photo: US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, 30 October, 2025. Credit: Evelyn Hockstein/Re...

How has the development and aid sector in Africa adapted in the 15 months since the Trump administration started closing USAID? Have predictions of mortalities come to pass, and how can the funding gaps be filled? We hear from the people who used to be in charge of multi-billion-dollar budgets, as well as those receiving funds on the front lines of the HIV crisis in Tanzania. Presenter: Ed Butler...

We look at the multi-billion-dollar toy industry. We ask why backing the right movie, YouTube show, or social media trend can affect your bottom line. And we hear about the challenges making products based on surprise hits, and how the humble puzzle could be the in-toy for 2026. If you'd like to get in touch with the team, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk Presenter/producer: Elizabeth...

Every year, hundreds of thousands of Argentines cross the Andes looking for bargains. With a favourable exchange rate, it can be considerably cheaper to buy well-known clothes and electronics brands in Chile. President Javier Milei's economic reforms have helped ease inflation so some people in Argentina have more money to spend. Jane Chambers has been to meet bargain hunters from Argentina and th...

We meet the creator of a dessert business whose story starts in her parents’ bakery. Vivien Wong tells us how she faced a family loss and eventually channelled that experience into building a company making mochi with a twist: taking a traditional Japanese rice cake and wrapping it around balls of ice cream. She shares how she turned a niche treat into a global brand, Little Moons. If you'd like t...

Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rate of entrepreneurship in the world, according to the World Bank, and most founders there are women. Why, then, do so many of those startups fail to grow? We look at why many female entrepreneurs struggle to access investment and ask three business leaders what might change that. If you'd like to get in touch with the team, our email address is businessdaily@bb...

Artificial Intelligence has upended the market for entry-level jobs, but could AI be blocking graduates from getting a foot on the jobs ladder altogether? In this episode, we look at the new AI arms race in recruitment. Tech advancements have allowed graduates to apply for more jobs than ever, and hiring managers can let AI do the initial shortlisting and interviews, so why do both sides of the em...

Getting a barrel of crude oil out of the ground in Saudi Arabia costs around $25. The market price right now is around $95. So where does that $70 go - and why has the price at the pump jumped so sharply since the war in the Middle East began? We follow the money behind a tank of petrol: from the oil field, through the world's most dangerous shipping lane, through the commodity markets, through a...

Amsterdam has become the world's first capital city to ban commercials for low-cost flights, petrol and diesel cars, and burgers from its billboards, bus and metro shelters. The travel and meat industries say it's over-reach, and violates their rights. We explore whether stripping adverts from public spaces can really change what we eat and how we travel. If you'd like to get in touch with the tea...