The Ken
 | |
| Founded | 2016 |
|---|---|
| Founders | Rohin Dharmakumar, Seema Singh, Sumanth Raghavendra and Ashish Mishra |
| Headquarters | , India |
| Website | the-ken |
The Ken is an Indian business news website based out of Bangalore, India.[1][2][3][4] It was launched in 2016 as a premium subscriber-only platform that publishes one article per day.[5][6][7] Its founders include Rohin Dharmakumar, Seema Singh, Sumanth Raghavendra and Ashish Mishra. PayTM founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma is an investor.[8]
As of September 2021, it had over 30,000 individual subscribers and over 150 corporate subscribers.[9]
History and Funding[edit]
The Ken was launched by Rohin Dharmakumar, Seema Singh, Sumanth Raghavendra and Ashish Mishra in 2016 as a premium subscriber only platform.[5]
Till 2018, the website raised ₹4.46 crore (US$560,000) and in 2018, it raised ₹10.32 crore (US$1.3 million) from several investors including the Omidyar Network.[10][11][12] It later said it had raised a further $1.9 million between the two rounds.[13] In August 2023, it closed a ₹16 crore ($2 million) Series B round of funding from two new investors, Rainmatter Capital and Baskar Subramanian, in a mixed round consisting of primary and secondary investments by both.[13]
Controversies and lawsuits[edit]
From 2019 to 2022, The Ken and another business news website, The Morning Context, were involved in lawsuits against one another. In 2019, Ashish Mishra left The Ken and started a rival online publication called The Morning Context.[14] The Ken then filed a lawsuit against Mishra alleging unauthorised use of confidential information which it alleged was used to "set up and operate" The Morning Context . Following this The Morning Context filed a defamation suit against The Ken alleging “false, derogatory & slanderous public statements amounting to defamation”. The Ken responded to the notice by "categorically rejecting" the claims made in it.[15] Later, The Ken withdrew its lawsuit against The Morning Context, Ashish Mishra and others on 24 May 2022.[16]
Content[edit]
The Ken publishes articles that focus on Indian business, healthcare and other similar topics. In 2019, The Ken expanded to Southeast Asia by launching a Southeast Asia Edition which is also run as subscriber-only platform that publishes one article per day.[17] In 2021, The Ken started a "business newsletter bundle" named “The Stack” that publishes newsletters that focus on specific sectors like Climate Technology, Financial Technology and Personal Finance among others.[18] Additionally, in 2021 the Ken also started its first podcast, "Unofficial Sources" (since discontinued), which was followed by two more podcasts: "First Principles" and "Cost to Company".[19] In late 2022, The Ken launched its third podcast "Daybreak" that aimed to provide business news in less than 15 minutes[20]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Russel, John (10 March 2017). "The Ken wants to fix business journalism in India with a subscription model". TechCrunch. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
- ^ Bansal, Shuchi (27 October 2016). "The big digital paywall question". mint. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
- ^ "India's 'The Ken' Goes Against the Grain with One Long-Form Story Per Day – And a Paywall". MediaShift. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
- ^ Sharma, Shardul (14 March 2019). "Success of The Ken's subscription-only revenue model - Indian Printer & Publisher". indianprinterpublisher.com. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
- ^ a b Wang, Shan (14 June 2017). "India's The Ken publishes one longform story each weekday. So far, subscribers are willing to pay". Nieman Foundation for Journalism. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
- ^ Bansal, Shuchi (27 October 2016). "The big digital paywall question". Mint. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
- ^ ""Nobody thought it would work": India's The Ken looks to expand beyond borders, on the wings of its unlikely success with subscriptions". What’s New in Publishing | Digital Publishing News. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
- ^ Dharmakumar, Rohin (17 February 2017). "The Ken announces angel funding". The Ken. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- ^ "How an Asian business site attracted 30,000 subscribers by publishing one story a day". Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- ^ Khatri, Bhumika (18 July 2018). "Subscription-Based News Company The Ken Raises $1.5 Mn". Inc42. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
- ^ Russel, Jon (18 July 2018). "The Ken raises $1.5M to grow its subscription journalism business in India". Tech Crunch. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
- ^ "The Ken | Omidyar Network India". www.omidyarnetwork.in. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
- ^ a b Dharmakumar, Rohin (9 August 2023). "The Ken closes $2M Series B funding". The Ken. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
- ^ Entrackr, Team (23 September 2019). "Former journalists at The Ken launch subscription-only publication 'The Morning Context'". Entrackr. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- ^ Rohin Dharmakumar (16 April 2020). "The Ken's Response to a "Defamation" Notice". Retrieved 12 October 2020.
- ^ "Vindication for The Morning Context". The Morning Context. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
- ^ ""Nobody thought it would work": India's The Ken looks to expand beyond borders, on the wings of its unlikely success with subscriptions". What’s New in Publishing | Digital Publishing News. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- ^ "Newsletters". The Ken. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- ^ "Podcasts". The Ken. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- ^ "Daybreak". The Ken. Retrieved 8 December 2022.