Optimist wants to reinvent the AC. Daikin and LG don’t need to

Your AC is running longer this year and the machines responsible may have been designed for a different climate entirely. Optimist, a two-year-old Gurugram startup, has built what it says is India's most energy-efficient residential AC. It is recalibrated for Indian humidity, sourced almost entirely from local suppliers, and engineered with components the industry has long considered too expensive to bother with. But 70% of AC sales in India happen offline, shelf space belongs to brands with decades of dealer relationships, and Optimist is nowhere on the floor yet. How long can a better product afford to wait? Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe ( https://the-ken.com/pricing/ ) for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories. Daybreak Episode 787 July 6, 2026 ★ Episode details: https://share.transistor.fm/s/c2f4bd79 ★ Additional episodes: https://the-ken.com/podcasts/daybreak/