Zerodha Broking Ltd is an Indian brokerage and financial services company, based in Bengaluru. It offers an online trading platform that facilitates institutional and retail trading of stocks, derivatives, currencies, commodities, mutual funds and bonds. It is a member of the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE), Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), and the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX).[3][4]
Zerodha was founded and bootstrapped by brothers Nithin and Nikhil Kamath.[5][6][7] As of May 2024, it has 7.5 million active customers registered with the NSE, making it the second largest stockbroker in India.[8][9]
History
Zerodha was founded in August 2010 by brothers Nithin and Nikhil Kamath. The name Zerodha, indicates a combination of words for the company's ideals: zero and, the Sanskrit word for 'barrier'.[10][11]
Kailash Nadh joined Zerodha to start its technology team and has served as the company's chief technology officer since then, building its trading platforms in-house.[12][13]
In 2019, Zerodha became the largest retail stockbroker in India by active client base, overtaking ICICI Securities. It contributed up to 2% of daily retail volumes on Indian stock exchanges at the time.[14]
In June 2020, Zerodha became a "unicorn" with a self-assigned valuation of around $1 billion based on an ESOP buyback.[15] Zerodha had about 1.3 million customers in early 2020, which rose to nearly 10 million by the end of 2022.[16]
In 2020, Zerodha applied for a licence to set up an AMC mutual fund in India[17] and launched its fund house in 2023.[18]
Products and subsidiaries
A fixed commission of up to ₹20 is applied to all equity trading and derivative transactions, regardless of its size. Equity delivery is commission-free.[14] The company also offers commodity trading through its wholly owned subsidiary, Zerodha Commodities Pvt. Ltd.[19][20][21]
Rainmatter
In 2014, Rainmatter was founded as an early-stage fund focused on financing start-ups in new technology and new product development. Some notable investments by Rainmatter are in startups such as Cred, Finception, Smallcase, and Sensibull.[22][23] The company has also backed GoldenPi and WintWealth, which are bond purchasing platforms.[24][25]
True Beacon
In 2019, Zerodha started True Beacon, an alternative investment fund (AIF) with a defensive investment strategy.[26]
Zerodha Fund House
In October 2023, Zerodha launched Zerodha Fund House, an asset management company, in partnership with Smallcase. It focused on index funds and had only direct plans which paid no commissions to distributors.[27][28] In March 2024, the fund house had an AUM of inr 10000000000.[29]
FLOSS Fund
On 15 October 2024, Zerodha announced the launch of FLOSS Fund dedicated to Free/Libre and Open Source projects globally. Zerodha committed to giving up to $1 million per year to support developers and communities that create and maintain such projects.[30]
Technical problems and interruptions
There have been multiple reports of technical issues including glitches, system outages and connectivity issues on Zerodha's Kite platform, especially on days with high market volatility and F&O expiry days.[31][32][33][34]
In November 2020, Livemint reported that some Zerodha traders complained of being unable to access its Kite platform due to a technical issue. Several users took to Twitter to report a login issue. Zerodha, in an official statement, acknowledged the problem.[35]
See also
References
- Lokesh Choudhary. Zerodha’s Revenue Nears INR 10,000 Cr Mark Inc42 Media, 14 December 2024, retrieved 17 January 2025^
- Yatti Soni, Venkatesha Babu. The billionaire brokers - Kamath brothers of Zerodha BusinessLine, 9 September 2022, retrieved 11 February 2025^
- Lisa Pallavi Barbora. Advantage customers: providers shift focus LiveMint, 12 April 2013, retrieved 23 March 2024^
- Bengaluru broking firm Zerodha scraps fee for cash trades; rivals miffed by move The Economic Times, 2 December 2015, retrieved 23 March 2024^
- Mansi Verma. Bootstrapped Zerodha, Zoho become the most profitable new-age companies in FY22 Moneycontrol, 31 January 2023, retrieved 17 January 2025^
- Ayushman Baruah. Zerodha Trade Winds of Change Business World India, 25 October 2016, retrieved 23 March 2024^
- Venkatesan R. Active accounts: discount brokers gain market share The Hindu Businessline, 12 January 2018, retrieved 23 March 2024^
- Khushboo Tiwari. Brokerage firm Groww seals top spot with nearly 23% market share Business Standard, 2024-04-15, retrieved 2024-06-16^
- Report 1C: Report of Redressal of Complaints lodged by clients against Trading Members (TMs) during 2024-25: Last Updated on 31-MAY-2024 National Stock Exchange of India, 2024-05-31, retrieved 2024-06-16^
- Zerodha - About Zerodha.com^
- Harichandan Arakali. Nithin and Nikhil Kamath: Code Zero Forbes India, 21 September 2018, retrieved 23 March 2024^
- Our company, history, and the people behind it Zerodha, retrieved 10 April 2026^
- Thomas Claburn. Manifest file destiny: Declare your funding needs via JSON The Register, 17 October 2024, retrieved 10 April 2026^
- Rachel Chitra, Partha Sinha. Zerodha replaces biggies as largest broker in India The Times of India, 10 January 2019, retrieved 23 March 2024^
- Kritti Bhalla. Zerodha Claims Unicorn Valuation In ESOPs Buyback Plan Inc42 Media, 22 June 2020, retrieved 23 March 2024^
- Why are so many Indians piling into stocks? The Economist, retrieved 10 May 2024^
- Zerodha applies for mutual fund license Economic Times, 20 February 2020, retrieved 23 March 2024^
- Navneet Dubey. Nithin Kamath led Zerodha Fund House launches its maiden funds. Here are the crucial details Business Today, 2023-10-25, retrieved 2024-06-16^
- Zerodha Commodities Pvt. Ltd. zerodha.com, retrieved 23 March 2024^
- Rajesh Mascarenhas. Average daily turnover surges in both F&O and cash segments; HNIs also get into the mix Economic Times, 12 March 2015, retrieved 23 March 2024^
- Madhav Chanchani. Broking startup Zerodha to enter non-banking finance space and expand overseas The Economic Times, 3 September 2015, retrieved 23 March 2024^
- Pratik Bhakta. Zerodha's Rainmatter invests Rs 4 crore in Finception Economic Times, 24 September 2019, retrieved 23 March 2024^
- Pratik Bhakta. Zerodha steps up as angel investor Economic Times, 14 November 2019, retrieved 23 March 2024^
- Kumar Shankar Roy. GoldenPi: Should you buy bonds on this platform? BusinessLine, 2022-11-26, retrieved 2024-06-25^
- Harsh Upadhyay & Kunal Manchanda. Exclusive: Wint Wealth raises nearly $15 Mn led by Eight Roads Ventures Entrackr, 2022-05-19, retrieved 2024-06-25^
- Amidst Dismal Market Performance True Beacon's Impressive Debut The Week Magazine (India), 25 February 2020, retrieved 23 March 2024^
- Introducing Zerodha Fund House Zerodha, 2023-10-30, retrieved 2024-06-16^
- Abhinav Kaul. Kamath calling Kamath! Zerodha, Smallcase form JV to launch mutual fund house Moneycontrol, 2023-04-12, retrieved 2024-06-16^
- Zerodha Fund House AUM hits Rs 500 crore in 40 days, reaches Rs 1,000-crore mark Business Today, 29 March 2024, retrieved 31 March 2024^
- Thomas Claburn. Manifest file destiny: Declare your funding needs via JSON The Register, 17 October 2024^
- Disha Sanghvi, Neil Borate. Will Zerodha compensate investor losses caused by tech glitch? LiveMint, retrieved 23 March 2024^
- Zerodha server down due to connectivity issue, management clarifies Money Control, 27 February 2019, retrieved 23 March 2024^
- Unplugged, Zerodha not to depend on leased lines The Hindu Business Line, 3 May 2018, retrieved 23 March 2024^
- Zerodha's Kite platform faces technical issues CNBC-TV18, 15 April 2019, retrieved 23 March 2024^
- Abhinav Kaul. Some Zerodha traders peeved as Reliance Jio users face login issue LiveMint, 5 November 2020, retrieved 23 March 2024^