Online investment platform Groww has launched ‘U.S stocks’ on its platform for limited users, meaning this new product offering is still in a beta or trail stage. According to sources, the company is planning to launch ‘U.S stocks’ on a full-fledge basis in the next two-three months.
On its official website, Groww has already enlisted American stocks in its product category. The company currently offers limited number of American stocks in categories like tech giants, fast food chain and entertainment. Some of the popular American stocks currently available on Groww in a beta mode are Alphabet Inc, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Netflix, Starbucks and Walt Disney. The company states in its official website that their Indian customers can invest as little as $1 in their favorite U.S stocks.
It is not clear whether or not Groww has completed all the necessary procedures, which includes tying up with American brokerage firm and fulfilling all the compliance rules as mandated by U.S. Securities and Exchange (SEC).
According to sources, Groww is also soon planning to roll out derivatives and fixed interest rate products like corporate bonds on its platform. The company may launch these products on a trial mode as soon as it officially launches US stocks on a full scale basis.
The company can certainly affords to do some product experimentation, since it has just secured $30 Mn or 222 crores funding from Continuity Fund and existing investors. The company has equally managed to pare down its losses significantly by reducing its losses from nearly 1 crore in FY18 to almost 43 lakh in FY19. The reduction in losses surely signifies the improvement in company’s unit economics.
Notably, Groww is surely not the only the player that is vying to tap into Indian customers growing interest in American and international stocks. While its immediate competitor Zerodha is already in the middle of launching U.S stocks on its platform, big players like ICICI Securities, Axis Securities and Winvesta have already jumped into the fray to tap this lucrative market.
These bigger and established players have only recently entered this supposedly lucrative market, with most of them offering basic plan and premium plan. Under the premium plan, companies are offering valued added services like zero account opening fees, zero brokerage and one-year free withdrawal benefits.
Industry experts claim that Indian customers’ interest in international stocks, especially US stocks, is spurred by the fact that American brands are immensely popular in India. With brands like Google, Amazon, Facebook & Netflix being almost a household names across India, analyst claim that this resonation will also extend towards American stocks.