Online stock broker RKSV raises $4M in Series A funding from Kalaari, others

Mumbai based RKSV Securities India Pvt Ltd, that operates online discount stock brokerage platform RKSV, has raised $4 million (around Rs 27.3 crore) in a Series A funding round led by Kalaari Capital. The round also participation from health care tech firm GVK Davix Technologies Pvt Ltd and other undisclosed investors.

Vani Kola, MD at Kalaari Capital will join RKSV's board, the company said.

Raghu Kumar, co-founder and head of operations at RKSV told Techcircle.in said that the funds will be used for product development, developing a suite of products for its newly launched trading app Upstox and hiring key personnel for its tech vertical.

"We believe consumer participation in the India equity markets will expand significantly over the next decade. India's youth population is likely to see equity markets as a viable alternative to fixed deposits, gold and real estate," said Vani Kola, MD at Kalaari Capital, in a statement.

Founded in 2008 by brothers Raghu Kumar, Ravi Kumar and Shrinivas Viswanath, RKSV facilitates online trading through a proprietary tech algorithm, and has memberships across the NSE,BSE and MCX. Though launched in 2008, RKSV ventured into retail trading only in 2012.

"In India, the investor participation into stock market is only 1.5 per cent of the population , whereas the number comes to 20-40 per cent in more developed economies and in the west," said Raghu Kumar.

RKSV claims to have over 50,000 users and hopes to increase this number to 1,00,000 by end of 2016. RKSV operates on a zero commission pricing model, which allows free trading on equities, and a nominal fee of Rs 20 pay-per-order for professional traders.

The company recently launched Upstox, a mobile platform for online trading for both retail and professional traders. Currently in beta mode and available only in mobile versions, a web application of Upstox will be launched over the next few months.

"We are looking to achieve a topline growth of 5-10 per cent month on month going forward and hope to achieve Rs 10,000 crore of daily-traded turnover," Raghu Kumar added.

Zerodha, a Bangalore based online brokerage firm which started operations in 2010, also has a flat fee-per-trade model. Nithin Kamath, founder and CEO of Zerodha, is also the promoter of Bangalore-based technology-focused VC firm Straddle Capital. Straddle has earlier invested in fin-tech startup TradeLab Software Pvt Ltd.

Other discount brokerage firms include Trade Smart Online, SAS Online and My Value Trade. Sharekhan is another large brokerage firm with significant online presence.

All major stock brokerage houses including ICICI Securities, Angel Broking and Edelweiss have an online presence.