Ajay Lakhotia, Founder & CEO, StockGro

28 Dec 2022 , 10:34 AM

Run us through the business model of StockGro. What was the thought process behind starting the company?

Less than 4% of India’s population invests in the stock market compared to the US and Europe, where more than 65% of the population has exposure to stock and bond markets.

StockGro is here to fill this glaring gap. Our model lets users have a head start in the stock market without having to put their own money at risk. And this is achieved by solving two key problems, i.e. eliminating the fear of losing money and lack of exposure to the right ways of investing. 

StockGro provides virtual money to users and allows them to explore the financial world in real-time, eradicating both their fears in one go. The app also facilitates interaction with experts via chat groups. On the app, users socialise with like-minded people and gain real-world stock market experience. 

How has the journey been so far for the company? What are the key learnings?

Since the inception in 2020, StockGro’s journey has been awe-inspiring on all fronts.  From a million users in March 2021 to over 25 million users in December 2022, the platform has been welcomed by patrons across age groups, knowledge levels and geographies.

The team’s biggest learning is that, while young India is passionate to learn about investing and trading, fear of losing and lack of knowledge prevent them from doing the same. With these insights at heart, we have built a user friendly platform that tackles every investing pain point for millennials.

This has led to great success – over 25 million users have embraced the app within 2 years of launch, making us bigger than most of the Brokers in India.  Beyond the numbers, lies the fact that StockGro has had an immense impact on the interest levels of young Indians who are just beginning to earn. As we go about imparting trading and investment education, we’re building an economy of wealth creators.

Our actions have also motivated educational institutions and corporates to financially empower their community members. We have 700+ premium college and corporate partners, and 50+ expert advisors in our community.

By helping every Indian unlock financial well-being, we wish to become India’s growth catalyst.

Who is your target audience, and how are you connecting with them?

StockGro’s target audience is anyone who’s beginning to understand their money. Ideally, it’s users between the ages of 18-25, but by logic, it also extends to users beyond that. If you want to understand how money works and have a deeper relationship with it – StockGro is your testing pitch. 

To kick off, StockGro laid a foundation with India’s top B-schools. So far, we have collaborated with more than 700 top B-Schools in India and plan to reach every corner of the country. The firm is taking extensive steps to engage students in fun activities by conducting workshops, quizzes, leagues etc to help them understand the financial world better.

The Indian stock market has approximately 70 million demat accounts, while we have a millennial population of over 458 million, sitting on the side-lines, with the majority of them waiting to start their investment journey.

The government census indicates that 40% of them have USD 8000 of annual investable income – which makes it a market size of approximately USD 1.4 Trillion.

Even though they have the money to invest, the fear of losing it or the inability to understand the numbers and jargon hold them back from investing. This is where they require guidance, handholding, social circle and influencers to help them invest properly.

There are many influencers out there on YouTube providing every kind of financial education. How do you compete with them?

Technical skills cannot be acquired by browsing through resources. For instance, it is impossible to learn how to swim by watching a YouTube video. Such theoretical learning might drown even the best swimmers.

Among the list of such skills that are better learnt through practice is stock picking. StockGro has provided a platform that allows users to – 

• Practice and learn
• Address financial fears
• Connect with peers
• Get guidance from experts

While other channels help budding investors develop theoretical understanding, StockGro helps them develop practical acumen and put it to test.  

Regulations governing influencers are likely to become stricter. How will that impact your company?

India has witnessed a wave of financial content creators during the pandemic. However, the lack of scrutiny has allowed inauthentic content to mislead investors and deplete their wealth. Regulatory change, is therefore, welcome in protecting investors and maintaining the industry’s credibility.

We shall embrace steps that help fortify user trust and build credibility of experts. In fact, we believe that weeding out falsifiers will strengthen our platform. Transparent and proof-based investing are at core of StockGro’s strategy.

What holds Indians back from equity investing? How are you spreading more awareness to facilitate informed decision-making?

Risk is the primary cause for Indians to stay away from stocks. StockGro is solving for the perception that stock markets are riskier. We want people to know that if they invest with the right information, it’s a wealth creation opportunity.

We are looking to raze two key barriers for a user looking to invest in stocks – lack of understanding of finance and apprehension of losing money. Our core mission is to have financial inclusion across all sectors of Indian society.

Could you give us details of the client base and growth areas?

StockGro is targeting 50% of the millennial population (220M) to gain stock trading and investment education in its simulated environment. On the app, they can learn to invest with virtual cash at zero risk. Our target group is people between the age group of 18-25 in both Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities – first-time enthusiasts, students and millennials in their first/ second job, exploring investment avenues.

This population is keen to learn the tricks of trade but is also afraid of losing money and doesn’t understand finance jargon. They need hand holding and guidance to learn the basics and begin their journey of wealth creation.

In order to unlock this goal, we plan to expand offerings to include various new asset classes including forex, commodity, gold, and bonds, and add exciting new features including technical analysis and macro trends, that make profitable investing hassle-free, easy, and accessible for its user community. We expect to scale at least 3x in this year and at least 2 x in each successive year, making it 12x growth in the next three years. 

What makes you stand out from your competitors?

StockGro is at the forefront of building a Social Investment Ecosystem, a cross-over between the Fintech and Edutech sectors.

While we have no direct competition in India, there are similar platforms like Public in USA and eToro in Europe. However, StockGro is not just a category leader but also a global category creator as no other firm has a stable virtual training and trading environment with a community learning approach. We help users explore and begin their financial journey risk-free.

StockGro is seeing more innovation in this sector and encouraging it, but we have not witnessed competition either from a product or scale perspective. We are confident that our product will make new waves in the days to come and are excited to make it happen.

Are there any plans to get listed? If yes, what is the timeline for the same? 

StockGro is an early stage startup and has no plans to get listed in the next 5 years or so.

Please share the funding details of the company. Is more fund-raising on the cards over the next 1 year?

The firm has raised over USD 35+million in total funding. 

We are garnering decent inbound interest from global investors for future rounds. We may onboard those whose goals align with ours.

Provide a snapshot of the company’s financial profile and its strengths thereof.

StockGro has raised USD 35+million till date with backing from prolific investors such as General Catalyst, BITKRAFT Ventures, Velo Partners etc. 

The company is on a path to achieve profitability at operational level.