Upstox Ends FY21 As One Of The Largest Brokers; Signs up 3 Million Accounts

MUMBAI:
Upstox (also known as RKSV Securities India Pvt Ltd), one of India’s largest investment platforms, has emerged as one of the largest brokers in the country at the end of the previous financial year, with a total client base of three million.

With close to 3 million customers, Upstox, set up in 2009 by Ravi Kumar, Kavitha Subramanian and Shrini Viswanath has set up record growth in the last two to three years, driven largely by the migration of millennials to digital-native trading platforms.

The increase in the number of active traders is largely fueled from Tier-II and Tier-III towns with a vast majority being first time investors. According to Co-founder and CEO Ravi Kumar, the trend has only accelerated in the post-pandemic period, as more individuals and households have been looking for additional sources of income – beyond the traditional instruments.

The stay-at-home economy is a new experience for all demographics, he says, adding “It has served as a wake-up call for many millennials to think about investing in the stock market. As digital natives with a higher risk appetite than the older generation, millennials realised that getting started in the Stock Market is not that difficult in this digital era.”

Kumar says 85% of Upstox customers carry out daily trades through their mobile devices. The intuitive consumer interface has also helped in bringing housewives among first time investors in the equity markets. Upstox has logged 5X growth in account opening by women in 2020, compared to 2019, Kumar points out. “Around 65% of Upstox women customers are first-time investors, and 30% are housewives,”he says.

The simplicity of online trading platforms such as Upstox, with a flat-fee structure, simple interface, and hassle-free account-opening process has served as a driving force behind the entry of several first-time demat account holders.

Kavitha Subramanian, Co-founder, Upstox is confident that this trend will continue, “While we have 3 million customers, currently, our customer growth has been three to four times for the last three years, and we expect the run rate to continue in 2021.”

The promoters being technology thought leaders in their own domains proposed that while first time investors are understandably anxious about the stock market experience, their user experience can be made comfortable through intuitive interface. Co-founder Shrini Vishwanath highlights that Upstox’s chart-sharing, which is among the industry-first features, allows customers to share applied analysis and drawing with their peers with real-time data. The Upstox Pro-web 3.0 allows high-frequency options traders to view their order and portfolio history along with the scrip details on the charts, without having to go to their portfolio.