Tiger Global invests $25 mn in brokerage startup Upstox

Financial brokerage firm Upstox has raised $25 million in its second round institutional round from New York-based hedge fund Tiger Global Management.

The investment will help the startup in hiring talent and scaling up its operations, the company statement said. 

The Mumbai-based firm also plans to expand operations to Delhi, Bengaluru and other cities.

The fintech is backed by Ratan Tata and venture capitalists Kalaari Capital and GVK Davix.

The company processes over $120 billion of the country's monthly exchange turnover, all of it coming from retail investors across the country, the statement added, citing data from the National Stock Exchange.

“Currently 70% of our customers are from tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Our vision is to cater to the next 500 million Indians going online for all their financial services needs,” said Ravi Kumar, co-founder, Upstox.

Founded in 2009 by Kumar and Shrinivas Viswanath, Uptstox was initially called RKSV in the name of their initials.

The securities brokerage and stock trading services provider’s top competitors include Zerodha, Sharekhan, Finvasia and TradingBells.

“The retail brokerage industry in India is highly underpenetrated and we are excited to partner with Ravi and the Upstox team as they work to make investing in India easier and more accessible,” said Scott Shleifer, partner, Tiger Global.

Tiger Global is set to lead a $100 million-130 million funding round, along with General Atlantic, in real estate platform NoBroker, more than doubling its valuation in three months to $400 million, The Economic Times reported, citing sources, yesterday.