While the majority of its rival stock brokers either had slower growth or experienced a shift in their client base, Groww has taken a larger share of the market and now commands approximately 25% of active investors on the NSE.
While their client base continues to expand, select brokers, such Zerodha and HDFC Securities, have witnessed a decline in market share; conversely, Upstox and ICICI Securities have had a decline in users.
According to NSE data, Groww's active investor base grew to 9.5 million in March 2024, increasing 77.5 percent from the previous year. From 16.5 percent to 23.4 percent last year, it has increased its market share.
Angel One has also seen growth, increasing its market share to 15% and having 6.11 million active investors at the end of FY24, up 42% year over year. Major investors are drawn to small cities.
Discount brokers have experienced an increase in investors in India, particularly from smaller cities and towns, because to their affordable prices and user-friendly smartphone apps. By the end of FY24, there were 40.8 million active investors on the NSE, an increase of around 25% year over year.
Nonetheless, Zerodha, Motilal Oswal, HDFC Securities, SBICap Securities, and Axis Securities are among the brokerages that increased their clientele but lost market share to Groww and Angel One in the fiscal year 2023–2024.
However, a few brokerages, such as Upstox, 5Paisa Capital, ICICI Securities, Sharekhan, and IIFL Securities, reported a decline in their clientele. Both Upstox and ICICI Securities lost more than 260 basis points of market share, making them the largest losers. The fact that Groww has almost five times the number of customers as ICICI Securities is indicative.
Growth's Path
Groww surpassed Zerodha to become the biggest stock brokerage site earlier in September 2023. In March 2021, Zerodha's user base increased to 3.4 million. Conversely, Groww saw a twelve-fold increase in its client base from 0.78 million.
It's interesting to see that Groww's income is less than half that of Zerodha. In comparison to the previous fiscal year, Zerodha recorded a 39 percent increase in income, coming in at Rs 6,875 crore during FY 23. Additionally, it declared a rise in earnings of the same magnitude, totaling Rs 2,907 crore in the previous fiscal year.
Groww's operator, Nextbillion Technology Pvt Ltd, reported income of Rs 1,294 crore in FY23, up more than three times over FY22. It declared a Rs 73 crore net profit.
The main cause of the significant discrepancy between revenue and net income is Zerodha's domination in the lucrative and highly money-generating Futures & Options trading market. Groww began as a platform that concentrated on drawing in new users with mutual funds and long-term investment products, particularly systematic investment plans (SIPs). Later, the platform expanded to include direct equities investing through its broking platform. But during the past few years, the business has been attempting to draw in both daily and F&O traders.
