Indian wealth tech started with discount brokers democratizing equity trading. It has since expanded into mutual funds, US stocks, fixed income, gold, and bonds — each slice contested by specialized players.
Discount brokers
Zerodha remains the profitable, efficient market leader with 1 crore+ active clients and zero marketing. Upstox, Angel One, and Groww compete on features and acquisition spend. The discount broker model (₹20 flat fee or free equity delivery) has crushed full-service brokers' revenues. Regulatory changes around peak margin requirements have compressed margins across the board.
Mutual fund platforms
Groww, Kuvera, ETMoney, Zerodha Coin, Paytm Money. All offer direct mutual funds for free. Differentiation is on UX, advisory layer, and goal-planning features. Kuvera built a loyal base with transparency and a pure direct-plan approach. Groww leveraged its brand and captured the mass market.
US stocks and global investing
INDmoney and Vested pioneered the category. Groww and Zerodha later added US stock access. Regulations (LRS limits, TCS) have made the category more complicated than it was, but demand remains strong among Indians wanting global exposure.
Savings and micro-investing
Jar, Stack, Niyo make digital gold savings and round-up investing accessible. These are entry-point products for young Gen Z users who aren't yet ready for full mutual fund investing.
What's next
Expect deeper integration with the Account Aggregator framework (so platforms can ingest your existing portfolio automatically), more tax-loss harvesting features, and AI-driven financial planning that's actually useful rather than a chatbot gimmick. The winners will be the ones who go beyond execution and start meaningfully advising users.