Bengaluru-headquartered stock broker Groww has achieved an impressive milestone as a member of the Indian fintech ecosystem, seeing a meteoric rise in its active user base – it now stands at 12.59 million (1.25 crore) active traders as of October 2024. Data released by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) is telling of that fact that 12.59 million forms an addition of around 350,000 new users in just one month.
PC: Hindustan Times
Groww was able to widen the gap with its closest competitor, Zerodha, which had around 8.06 million active investors for the same period. This is the new dimension to the competitive landscape of the stock broking business in India because Groww managed to replace Zerodha at the top in October of last year and since then has not looked back.
Growth in Groww is particularly impressive while as seen in the industry’s bigger picture- of user acquisition. In one year, Groww has almost doubled its user base, whereas Zerodha has added a much weaker 1.5 million customers over the same period. Such a disparity highlights how popular Groww’s platform is becoming, as it offers an easy experience to the new and old investor alike.
The third-biggest stockbroker in the country, Angel One, is also gaining as it has now reached an active user count of 7.53 million, or 75 lakh if this is to happen, Angel One will finally overtake Zerodha later this year also, when the competition between the two, which is in the peak now gets even fiercer. Currently, Upstox stood at the fourth position in the list by reporting about 2.85 million, or 28.52 lakh, users while ICICI Direct was in the fifth slot with 1.93 million, or 19.3 lakh active users.
Dhan, yet another newer entrant into the market, was launched by former Paytm Money executive Pravin Jadhav. It has gained 840,000 (8.49 lakh) users as of October. Dhan created the news because it knocked out Paytm Money from the top 10 list of stockbroking apps in India in August 2024.
On the financial side, Zerodha still holds the leadership with the highest revenue in FY24, having reported ₹8,370 crore. Angel One takes the second position with ₹4,272 cr in revenues and Groww had ₹3,145 cr as revenue of the same fiscal year. But revenue numbers aside, the company has put up a net loss at ₹805 cr with the main reason being one time tax expense for the tune of ₹1,340 cr incurred on account of moving its entire operation to India. Growth remains operationally profitable and has shown the strength of core business models.
The Indian stockbroking market is fast changing due to new entrants and service line expansions among the existing players in this marketplace. Hence, the simplicity in investment processes and easy access to stock trading that Groww has on offer stands well appreciated by a large number of users, particularly the youthful demographic looking to invest.
Given that the competition will only grow fiercer in terms of attracting and keeping users in the market going forward, the platforms battling it out will sharpen their claws. At this momentum, Groww is more than aptly prepared to seize opportunities of growing interest in India towards investments in the stock markets. Innovation introduced by the company, as well as meeting the needs for its users, will be a critical factor as it fights out for that top position for many years in the future.
Overall, the growth trajectory of Groww well proves great potential for fintech solutions in democratization, both in terms of investment opportunities and in reformation of the Indian financial landscape.
