Daybreak

Last month, Netradyne, the logistics AI startup, became India’s first unicorn of 2025 after it raised 90 million dollars 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 one rather primitive prototype. Of course, now it has morphed into a compact device with a built-in GPU, up to four cameras, and a disembodied voice alerting drivers not to crash the vehicle.

The Ken reporter Abhirami G recently found herself in the backseat of one of Netradyne’s test cars in Bengaluru's Whitefield neighbourhood. The driver of the car was a Netradyne employee. And as he weaved through the traffic, the company’s signature always-on surveillance cameras didn’t just watch his every move, but also apparently “understood” and “analysed”. As he drove, he was generating the precious training data that powers the company’s bread and butter. Apart from making roads safer, this whole system also doubles up as a driver’s best legal defence in times of trouble. The company’s executive Vice president of Engineering Teja Gudena said that on multiple occasions, it has saved drivers from liability by proving their innocence in accidents. 

Apart from its new-found unicorn status, it reportedly managed to clock Rs 1,000 crore in revenue in 2023. It also currently has a stronghold in the US and other major global markets. Reaching all of these milestones within nine years is pretty remarkable. But despite all that success, Netradyne is now grappling with an existential crisis. Because now, driverless vehicles are no longer science fiction, they are a logistical inevitability. And that leaves Netradyne in a rather tricky spot. 

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It’s 2025 and the idea of “masculinity” has undergone a complete overhaul. You see, after several product life cycles, the men’s grooming business has reached a stage where brands aren’t just formulating shampoos and body washes exclusively for men. They are also coming up with compacts and concealers, and a bunch of other makeup products targeted at men. 

In fact, in the last decade or so, India has actually become the biggest market in the Asia Pacific region for beauty products for men.

And yet, nothing much has changed about how these brands pitch their products to men.

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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.

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Over the next three to five years, Zepto wants to be known as the startup that created the most multimillionaires. 

Which is why these days, the standard pitch that people applying for VP-level roles at the startup get is as follows: "Would you like to create generational wealth? Think 50-100 crores in just four years." That’s what Zepto HR has been promising these applicants. They’ve been making it seem like bagging a job at Zepto is like winning a lottery ticket. 

And it’s not just bravado.

By “generational wealth”, the company means offering Employee Stock Ownership Plans or ESOPs to senior executives, based on their performance.

But it comes at a price.

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Indian startups are making the most of the increasing demand for surveillance by securing high visibility government contracts. But while these can boost a startup's profile, government projects are unpredictable and often difficult for smaller startups to win.

As a result, there is a shift underway — private clients are becoming increasingly crucial for profitability.

This divide between public and private contracts is forcing these surveillance startups to do a fair bit of monkey balancing. How are they pulling it off?

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**This episode was previously published in December, 2024

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.

Nvidia’s dominance in the AI market is forcing Big Techs like Microsoft to produce chips of their own. So, the software giant is changing its tack in hiring from Indian colleges.

The Ken reporter Abhirami G joins host Rahel Philipose in this episode.

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Listen to 'One Billion in 10 Minutes', our new mini series based on The Ken's inaugural case competition.

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Apple Podcasts 

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CIBIL or Credit Information Bureau (India) Ltd is one of only four credit information providers in the country that is licensed by the RBI. It is considered the oldest and the most reliable. It essentially calculates your credit score, a three digit number between 300 and 900, and provides it to banks so they can judge your creditworthiness. Usually, anything over 700 is considered good. 

But this whole process is anything but straightforward. In fact, it is shrouded in mystery. Each of these bureaus typically have their own algorithm to compute your credit score. And they are all somewhat similar. But nobody–not the borrowers and not even the banks–fully understand how these credit information providers, like Cibil, actually rate finances. 

In this episode, we try to demystify these credit bureaus and their mystery calculations that decide our fate.

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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.

We are now on WhatsApp at +918971108379. Text us and tell us what you thought of the episode!

*This episode was originally published on 17 September, 2024.

Subway, the globally popular sandwich-eatery chain, is now grappling with sweeping changes in India—and not for the better. For one, the world’s largest quick-service restaurant (QSR) brand is moving away from the franchise model it has operated under for the past 25 years. In doing so, it’s also shedding the very thing that made it popular in the first place: choice.

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Back in 2016, the government launched a scheme called UDAN. It stands for Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik, which roughly translates to every ordinary citizen will fly. This was a scheme that promised affordable, hassle free air travel to tier-2, 3 and 4 cities across the country. 

But eight years later, flying in and out of smaller towns and cities could not  be more cumbersome. Direct flights are rare, and cancellations and delays are constant. So, that prompts the question – where did Udan go wrong? 

A report by the Comptroller Auditor General shows that more than half of the 770 odd approved flight routes under the scheme had not even commenced operations by March 2023. This largely had to do with two things – inadequate airport infrastructure and the lack of flights. 

But now the government is trying to fix it. 

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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.

We are now on WhatsApp at +918971108379. Text us and tell us what you thought of the episode!

The luggage industry seems to have undergone quite a makeover in the last few years. Back in the day, VIP and Safari were synonymous with the plain black and grey suitcases. But now, luggage is as important as the clothes you wear--it's part of the whole airport look.

Startups like Mokobara, Nasher Miles, Assembly, and Uppercase have turned luggage into an aspirational lifestyle product with smart social-media marketing and a vibrant aesthetic.

Also, important to note is that travel changed after Covid pandemic. The duration of trips has shortened, but the frequency of general travel has increased from once every three months to once every 45 days.The suitcase now has to fit in with the instagram aesthetic so it has gone from being functional to a style statement. As of now, VC-backed, new-age luggage brands only have a tiny slice of the market.

But that slice has been growing quickly, and that’s enough to get the old guard nervous.

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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.

We are now on WhatsApp at +918971108379. Text us and tell us what you thought of the episode!

'As the battle for winning 10-minute deliveries heats up, so do the stakes. Pick one of five quick commerce companies. Determine what winning looks like. Write your solution’

That was the challenge we threw at some of India’s smartest, most ambitious and creative students from top business schools across the country. In our brand-new mini series 'One Billion in 10 Minutes', you will hear their ambitious and creative pitches – all rooted in the real world and centred around five quick commerce platforms that have completely changed the way we all shop.

The six-episode mini series goes live on Monday, February 3. But before that, we thought we would give you a sneak peak here on Daybreak. Check out the first episode of the series, where two teams — Metamorphosis from IIM Ahmedabad and Voldemort from IIMK Kozhikode —  go head to head with their billion dollar strategies for the OG quick commerce platform, Big Basket.

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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.

We are now on WhatsApp at +918971108379. Text us and tell us what you thought of the episode!