Daybreak

Just two days after the Pahalgam terror attack, alarm bells went off inside India’s financial system. A stern message from an HDFC Bank executive summed up the mood: “They may come for us now.” The national security tragedy triggered a sudden and sweeping crackdown on India’s digital payments ecosystem. Behind closed doors in Delhi, top officials from the Finance Ministry, Home Affairs, and the Re...

Zara and Tata’s retail arm, Trent, have been partners for 15 years. But that relationship might be coming to an end because Zara’s not pulling its weight anymore. Its share of Trent’s overall sales has dropped from 28% to just 10% in six years. Its rivals like H&M and Uniqlo have moved faster, reached more cities in a much shorter time span. Meanwhile, Trent’s been busy. It used what it learne...

One clear sign that Angel One—India’s third-largest discount broker—is serious about reversing its fortunes is that it bought itself a front-row seat at India’s most expensive distraction: the Indian Premier League. That’s ambitious. Especially for a company that just flunked its latest earnings test.  Between fiscal year 2020 and 2024, Angel One proudly nuked its full-service past—no more phone c...

In March this year, a software developer that goes by Pea Bee online published a blog rather ominously titled ‘Everyone knows all the apps on your phone’.  He found that several Indian app-based startups are flouting rules of Google Play—Android’s app store—to access people’s data.  In particular, some apps use a workaround to scrutinise the names and usage patterns of other apps on people’s phone...

Physics Wallah’s brand new initiative, the PW Institute of Innovation, was pitched as an alternative to the tough IIT route that didn’t compromise on quality or career prospects. It even came with a scholarship, a residential campus in Bengaluru, and a shot at a good job after graduation. On paper, it looked like the perfect deal. However, students who signed up had to juggle a confusing mix of co...

Eyestem, a 14-member biotech startup from Bengaluru is turning heads in global pharma circles. With just $10 million and a modest 1,200 sq ft office, it has developed a promising cell therapy for dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD)—a condition that leads to blindness and has no cure. Early trial results are not only encouraging, they’re outperforming billion-dollar competitors in the West....

Nagpur-based Counter Cyclical Investments doesn’t waste time with handholding. The six-year-old firm has a reputation for being quite cut and dry with its clients.   Consider some gems from the ‘who should invest with us’ long-list. “Those who won’t disturb us by calling us for reassurance everytime the market falls.” “We don’t have any provision for a relationship manager. Once you have taken an...

Four months ago, food delivery giant Zomato decided to run an experiment. If you are a regular patron of the app, you may have noticed a tab called ‘Quick’ appear, that promised 15-minute deliveries in a bunch of metropolitan cities like Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi NCR.  Now, the company’s founder and CEO made an interesting statement last year that explains why it would choose to try out this exp...

Thanks to AI, economic disruptions, mass layoffs, and a bunch of other fun things, the 40-year career is no longer something you can take for granted. And that fundamentally changes the nature of our careers. No one embodies that change more than the Gen Z workforce.  Young employees are now seeking a job, not a career. They don't join organisations to retire from them. Instead they see them merel...

The world’s “most respected” test of school education—the Programme for International Student Assessment or PISA—began this March. 90 countries are on the list including China, Vietnam and some of the poorest nations in the world. But India? We’re sitting this one out. In fact, India hasn’t touched PISA in 16 years! The last time it did, in 2009, India ranked 72nd out of 73 countries. Only Kyrgyzs...

The Life insurance Corporation of India or LIC is now stepping into a sector where more than 860 million Indians or nearly 60% of the population still has no coverage. The insurer signalled its big move into health insurance in March this year with a major acquisition—49% of Manipal Cigna, a private health insurer, in a deal valued at over ₹3,500 crore. And here’s where things get really interesti...

Ather Electric once pioneered the electric two wheeler segment. But now it has fallen behind its competition like Ola Electric and TVS Motor in terms of market share. To make matters worse, its recent IPO saw a lukewarm response from investors. One thing is clear -- up until now, Ather’s focus has been on building superior products, loaded with features and a smooth user experience. But to take th...

Earlier this month, India’s largest third party logistics company, Delhivery, acquired its biggest rival Ecom Express in a $165 million distress sale. The acquisition could not have come at a better time for both parties.  Things have been tough for Ecom for some time now. The company, in fact, called off its IPO plans just this February, about six months after filing the papers and ended up layin...

Mahindra’s new EVs the XEV 9e and BE6 were marketed as software wrapped in metal. They promised the future. Things like augmented reality heads up display, auto park assist, a triple screen dashboard, an in car camera, and a digital key based on near field communication.  But now, that long list of cutting edge features is proving to be a real bottleneck for the company. The Ken spoke to at least...

In January this year, Netradyne, the logistics AI startup, became India’s first unicorn of 2025 after it raised $90 million in series D funding.  You see, it did not take it long to realise that its sweet spot is the long-distance trucking segment. It serves over 3,000 customers across eight countries, including the likes of Amazon, Shell, Indian Oil and Greenline Mobility. And it all began with o...

In this episode we fill you in on three standout stories from the past week.  First, what ITC’s acquisition of 24 Mantra means for the larger organic food market;  Next, Musk’s latest attempt to save Tesla;  And finally, why Blusmart’s unravelling was an eventuality we all chose to ignore. Check out the newsletter and podcast mentioned in this episode: The latest edition of Trade Tricks  The Nutgr...

On 9 April, as the world reeling from the tariff standoff between America and China, one Indian company quietly made history. The stocks of InterGlobe Aviation, the parent company Indigo, India’s top budget airline, hit an all-time high. For a brief moment, Indigo wasn’t just India’s largest airline—it became the most valuable airline in the world. More than Delta even.  Back home though, meanwhil...

 Here’s the thing about the Indian carbonated beverage market – for decades now it has been a two, sometimes three horse race dominated by everyone’s favourite black coloured colas. Pepsi, Coca Cola and Thums Up.  But in the last year or so, a 160-ml bottle of cumin-flavoured soda has managed to do what very few bottled beverages could. It has challenged the Indian beverage industry’s holy trifect...

In 2021, Ashni and Avni Bayani, the scions of industrialist Kishore Biyani’s Future Group, launched their own venture – a startup studio called Think 9 Consumer Technologies. The concept was simple – they would incubate new brands across categories like apparel, beauty, health and wellness and food; and then use common teams for marketing, technology and even product development. Why? Well, accord...

On 19 March, the Indian government slashed incentives for UPI transactions by more than half to Rs 1,500 crore for FY25.  After it launched in 2016, UPI very quickly became the backbone of India’s digital economy–thanks to demonetisation, and well, the pandemic. Most importantly, it was the radical decision to keep it free that fuelled its growth. No merchant fees. No transaction costs. But the ze...

In this episode, we dive into a topic that is as daunting as it is exciting — the future of careers. First, we talk about a troubling trend in workplaces today — the rise of the unwilling retiree; Next, we share some of the lessons learnt by students who graduated during economic downturns in the past. Check out the stories and newsletters mentioned in this episode: Why more 40-somethings are beco...

What happens when India’s biggest streaming platform decides it’s no longer satisfied with just airing Koffee with Karan and cricket? And it now wants to take on YouTube and Instagram? You get Sparks–an ambitious experiment by Jiohotstar that’s is set on winning over Gen Z viewers, one short video at a time. In February, right before the IPL kicked off, Jiohotstar launched Sparks. It is a free, cr...

In a little over a decade, Lenskart has gone from being just India’s biggest online eyewear retailer to becoming one of Asia’s biggest omnichannel eyewear giants. Needless to say, business has been booming. And the company is now inching towards its next big step – an IPO.  But in the midst of all its success, it appears Lenskart may have rubbed some people the wrong way. The catch is that these a...

Back in 2019, an ed-tech called Scaler Academy decided to do for tech education what Masters’ Union did for the traditional MBA.  The tech-upskilling platform launched in 2019 with a simple pitch: take AI, machine learning, and data science courses, get placed at top tech firms, and make a lot more money. But five years later, that formula is breaking down. The very thing Scaler trained people in—...

Welcome to the world of consulting in 2025. AI is everywhere—from writing reports and making decks to crunching numbers. But you’d think the likes of McKinsey, Bain, and BCG would be worried about AI, right? Because AI reduces the knowledge gap between them and their clients. Turns out, instead of resisting it, they’re going all in. The ones feeling the heat are junior most employees—the consultan...