Daybreak

India’s quick-commerce poster child, Zepto, is racing to the public markets after a festive season high. The company clocked 20 lakh daily orders during Diwali — coming only second to Blinkit. But behind that surge lies a far more complicated story: leadership churn, regulatory heat, and a business model that’s still chasing profitability.

In this episode, we unpack Zepto’s dual reality — a startup celebrating record growth while quietly firefighting internal challenges. From FDA raids on dark stores and government warnings on “dark patterns,” to its clean-up act and pre-IPO tightening, we explore how Zepto is trying to look investor-ready in a year that’s tested its resilience.

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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

Remember Blackberry? The phone that once ruled business meetings and earned the nickname “Crackberry”? It’s making a comeback—but this time, not in your pocket.

In this episode, we dive into Blackberry’s surprising pivot from smartphones to car software. Its QNX system now runs the brains of over 250 million vehicles worldwide, powering everything from navigation to safety. And the nerve centre of this quiet comeback? India.

With its Hyderabad hub, partnerships with Mahindra, Tata Motors, and Tata Elxsi, and a growing EV ecosystem, India is where Blackberry’s next growth story is being coded. From BBM to EVs, this is the story of how a fallen tech icon found new life—on the road.

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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

When your insurance card suddenly stops working, it is not just a glitch. It is the symptom of a deeper crisis in Indian healthcare. 

Hospitals say insurers have failed to update reimbursement rates despite medical inflation. Insurers say hospitals are inflating bills and resisting standardization. 

Millions of policyholders are caught between them, forced to pay out of pocket for care they thought was covered. 

How did India’s healthcare system end up in this deadlock. And who really decides what your treatment is worth?

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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

Groww, the platform that turned stock trading into an everyday habit, is gearing up for India’s biggest-ever broking IPO. On paper, it’s flying high — profits have tripled, revenues have surged past ₹4,000 crore, and competitors like Zerodha and Angel One are feeling the lagging behind.

But look closer, and the shine dulls a little. A big chunk of Groww’s recent gains comes from one-time accounting adjustments, while its active user base and broking income are already slowing. To keep the engine running, Groww is betting on a new frontier — lending — even as rivals crowd the same space.

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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

Lenskart changed how India buys glasses. It made eyewear affordable, stylish, and available on every street corner. But behind that success is a story of shortcuts. Cheap acetate frames, thinner coatings, and rushed prescriptions have left many customers questioning the quality they once trusted.

As the company prepares to close a massive IPO, its promise of clarity is facing some uncomfortable scrutiny.

In this episode we look at how Lenskart built its empire on affordability and what that means for the people who actually wear its glasses.

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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

Last week, ChatGPT launched its own AI browser — a tool that promises to surf the web for you. It can summarise articles, add chocolates to your cart, or even tell you which email to reply to first (though… not always correctly).

OpenAI’s vision is clear: make ChatGPT the centre of your digital life. But are users buying in? From buggy app integrations with Canva and Spotify to real concerns around privacy and data access, host Rachel Varghese explores why AI-powered tools aren’t quite the game-changers they claim to be — yet. And why OpenAI keeps rolling them out anyway.

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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

Ola’s ride-hailing business is losing speed. Its market share has dropped from 45% in 2018 to around a quarter today and investors are running out of patience. Some even explored a merger with Rapido in late 2024 but the talks collapsed.

Bhavish Aggarwal’s focus on Ola Electric and his reluctance to sell have kept the cab business in limbo. Leadership churn, shrinking cash reserves, and a collapsing valuation have added to the strain.

So why can’t investors leave and why is Aggarwal refusing to let go?

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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

If you’ve ever used a Classmate notebook or a Doms pencil, you’ve already been an unwitting part of one of India’s quietest rivalries in action.

For years, ITC ruled the stationery aisle — backed by its giant paper mills and powerful brands. But Gujarat-based Doms is catching up fast.

Since its 2023 IPO, Doms’ sales have surged, its stock has tripled, and it’s closing in on ITC’s notebook empire.

With everything made in-house and a perfectionist at the helm, Doms is turning pencils into profit, and giving one of India’s biggest conglomerates a run for its money.

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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

LG Electronics India just pulled off a record-breaking IPO, drawing bids worth over 4 lakh crore rupees. Investors love its dominance in consumer electronics and its unrivaled retail network. For decades, LG has built trust through deep relationships with local retailers, flexible margins, and a people-first culture. 

But as the company shifts toward profit maximization and premium products, those same relationships could be tested. 

Can a business built on generosity stay efficient enough to compete with rivals like Samsung and Whirlpool? 

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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

Accenture is reinventing itself. Literally. Its new “Reinvention Services” division, led by former Americas CEO Manish Sharma, is supposed to make Accenture the best version of itself for clients. 

But inside the company? "Reinvention" signals a deep internal culling after nearly 11,000 job cuts. The layoffs, however are also fuelling a new kind of hiring boom elsewhere.

The Big Four—Deloitte, PwC, EY, and KPMG—are seizing the moment. As they race to turn themselves into AI and tech transformation powerhouses, corporate restructuring at tech-services giants like Accenture and IBM just made hiring tech talent a whole lot easier for the Big Four.

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Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.