Economic slowdown may be currently taking toll on the Indian stock market but this hasn’t stopped the PE major Tiger Global from investing in the online stock broking startup Upstox. The global hedge fund giant has invested $25 Mn in the Mumbai headquartered startup, which last raised funds in 2016.
Ravi Kumar, cofounder of Upstox, said that the latest capital infusion will be utilized for expanding business, ramping up product platform and talent acquisition. He further added that the company aims to attract new generation Indians into stock market and claimed that they are already seeing good tractions in the smaller towns.
On the talent acquisition front, Upstox reportedly plans to increase its headcount from current 180 to 300 employees.
Tiger Global, on other hand, is capitalizing on under-penetration in India’s retail brokerage industry for its latest bet in the online stock market space.
“The retail brokerage industry in India is highly under-penetrated and we are excited to partner with Ravi and the Upstox team as they work to make investing in India easier and more accessible. The market opportunity is large and growing and we believe Upstox is well-positioned to gain market share over time,” said Scott Shleifer, partner, Tiger Global Management.
Founded in 2011, Upstox aims to simplify investment in the stock markets for the retail investors. The company claims that it serves whopping 300,000 clients and also claims to contribute over 3% of the national trades conducted across exchanges including BSE.
Upstox counts high-profile investors like Ratan Tata, Kalaari Capital and GVK Davix. However, this Mumbai based startup is not the only one that is seeking to simplify stock market investment. The company faces tough competition from the Bengaluru headquartered Zerodha, which is India’s largest retail stock broker in terms of active client base.