Ather edges past Ola in Q2 sales; Diagnostics outpace market growth
Despite decades of laws and programmes, the preference for sons continues to undermine the survival of girls. Revenues and operating profits for leading diagnostics firms have been growing at double digits since 2023. In September, Ather Energy beat out Ola Electric in monthly sales.
Hello,
Digital payments are getting a fresh oversight.
The newly constituted Payments Regulatory Board will be chaired by RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, with three out of its six members appointed by the central government. The new structure dilutes the RBI’s control over India’s digital payments sector.
This comes as payments startups and companies are pushing hard for the reinstatement of the merchant discount rate on high-volume UPI transactions, arguing it’s becoming economically unsustainable.
The zero-fee model isn’t working for Zerodha either. The broker is considering charging fees for equity delivery trades, as regulatory restrictions on derivatives trading have slashed its brokerage revenues by 40% in the latest quarter.
Meanwhile, GenAI companies are taking a leaf out of ecommerce.
OpenAI has brought shopping directly into ChatGPT, introducing an Instant Checkout for US users. The launch has initially focused on Etsy sellers, with Shopify support set to follow.
The company’s financials have grown exponentially, posting a revenue of $4.3 billion in H1 2025—16% higher than in all of 2024, according to The Information.
On the other side of the world, Chinese AI company DeepSeek has released an experimental large language model with a new “DeepSeek Sparse Attention” mechanism that aims to improve long‑context efficiency while lowering developers’ bills.
Fits right in with a world of short attention spans.
In today’s newsletter, we will talk about
- Ather edges past Ola in Q2 sales
- Diagnostics outpace market growth
- What’s skewing India’s sex ratio
Here’s your trivia for today: In which city is Navratri celebrated with a royal procession?
Electric Vehicles
Ather edges past Ola in Q2 sales
Electric two-wheelers are off to a lacklustre start to the much-anticipated festive demand. In September, the total number of EVs sold fell to 96,030 units, compared to 1,04,950 units in August.
The second quarter was a challenging period for electric vehicle manufacturers in India, with many struggling with the ongoing rare earth magnetic crisis triggered by export restrictions imposed by China.
Slow momentum:
- Despite the overall downtick in demand, TVS Motor managed to hold onto its market lead position, capturing a 21.9% share of the E2W market. The company has managed to consistently maintain its market leadership position in the second quarter, from July to September.
- September recorded Ather Energy’s break into the top-three list of OEMs in India, in terms of sales. For the first time, the recently listed firm sold more vehicles than its peer Ola Electric, which listed on public bourses last year.
- Meanwhile, Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola Electric has had a disappointing quarter, with its sales numbers during this period plunging by almost 50% to 47,753 units compared to year-ago numbers.
Funding Alert
Startup: PostHog
Amount: $75M
Round: Series E
Startup: Ignosis
Amount: $4M
Round: Pre-Series A
Startup: VAMA
Amount: Rs 22 Cr
Round: Pre-Series A
Healthcare
Diagnostics outpace market growth
India’s diagnostics sector is outpacing the buoyant stock market in terms of returns. The Indium Diagnostics Index, a benchmark that tracks six listed players, has surged roughly 63% over the past two years, trouncing the 24% gain in the BSE Sensex.
Revenues and operating profits for the listed cohort have been compounding at 11% and 12% annually, respectively, since 2023.
Imaging boost:
- Efficiency-first incumbents—Dr Lal PathLabs and Metropolis—have opted for steady expansion, maintaining high levels of capital efficiency. Growth-first challengers—Vijaya and Suraksha—derive nearly 40–50% of their revenues from imaging services such as radiology and advanced scans.
- Vijaya has established itself as the most profitable operator by margin, while Thyrocare leads on EBITDA growth. The contrast suggests that no single model dominates.
- The tilt toward radiology marks a significant structural shift. For decades, the industry was defined by high-volume, low-cost pathology testing. Imaging, by contrast, is more capital-intensive but allows for greater differentiation and pricing power.
Women’s Health
What’s skewing India’s sex ratio
Across India, sex ratio at birth has long hovered well below the natural biological norm of 950–975 girls per 1,000 boys (or 105 male births per 100 female births).
Among the states that have shown progress are Haryana, which improved its deeply skewed sex ratio (around 832) to over 870 in recent years, and Rajasthan, which moved from 857 to 911. On the other hand, Bihar and Karnataka saw deterioration. These inter‐state contrasts are a reflection of differing enforcement zeal, social norms, and programmatic interventions, and can help create a blueprint for successful initiatives.
News & updates
- Change at the top: Spotify CEO Daniel Ek is stepping down as CEO, two decades after founding the music streaming service. Ek will transition to an executive chairman role at the company, with Spotify co-presidents Alex Norström and Gustav Söderström set to step in as co-CEOs.
- Goddess of wealth: A Chinese national has been convicted following an international fraud investigation, which resulted in what’s believed to be the single largest cryptocurrency seizure in the world. The London Metropolitan Police says it recovered 61,000 bitcoin worth more than $6.7 billion in current prices.
- With love, Alexa: Amazon is kicking off an end-to-end overhaul of its hardware business by rebuilding two of its flagship Alexa devices: the Echo and the Echo Show. New speakers include a revamped look, upgraded silicon and integration with an Alexa+ subscription service.
In which city is Navratri celebrated with a royal procession?
Answer: Mysuru, Karnataka. The festival includes a grand parade, known as Jumboo Savari, where an idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari is carried on a decorated elephant through the city streets.
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