Zerodha

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An Indian technology-led discount brokerage and financial-services brand.

Last updated October 28, 2026

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Overview

Zerodha is an Indian brokerage and financial-services company headquartered in Bengaluru. Founded in August 2010 by brothers Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath, it helped popularize discount brokerage in India by combining online self-service investing with transparent, capped trading charges. The company was bootstrapped rather than built around conventional venture funding, and its name combines “zero” with the Sanskrit word “rodha,” meaning barrier. The business provides access to Indian equities, derivatives, currencies, commodities, mutual funds and bonds. It is a member of the National Stock Exchange of India, Bombay Stock Exchange and Multi Commodity Exchange. Its principal customer-facing products include Kite, a web and mobile trading platform, and Coin, a direct mutual-fund investment platform. Zerodha also operates or supports adjacent businesses and initiatives, including the Rainmatter investment platform, Zerodha Fund House, True Beacon and the Rainmatter Foundation. Its pricing model has generally emphasized zero brokerage for equity delivery and a capped charge of up to ₹20 for eligible intraday and derivatives orders, subject to applicable taxes and exchange or regulatory fees. This model, together with a lightweight interface and internally developed technology, positioned Zerodha as an alternative to full-service brokers that traditionally relied more heavily on percentage-based commissions and branch distribution. Kailash Nadh joined the company in 2013 and led the development of its technology organization. By 2019, Zerodha had become India’s largest retail stockbroker by active client base, overtaking ICICI Securities. The company reached a self-assigned valuation of approximately $1 billion in 2020 through an employee stock-option buyback. Its customer base expanded rapidly during the early 2020s, reaching roughly 10 million customers by the end of 2022 according to the cited reference material. Zerodha has extended beyond brokerage into asset management, private-market investing and ecosystem building. Rainmatter has funded financial-technology and investment startups, while Zerodha Fund House, launched in 2023 with Smallcase, focuses on direct index funds. The company has also backed climate-oriented work through the Rainmatter Foundation and open-source software through the FLOSS Fund. The company remains privately held and focused primarily on India. Its growth has exposed it to the operational demands of a large retail trading platform, including periodic complaints about outages and access problems during volatile markets. It has also become sensitive to regulatory changes affecting equity derivatives. In 2024, Securities and Exchange Board of India measures affecting weekly options expiries, contract sizes, transaction taxes and fee disclosures led Nithin Kamath to warn that derivatives-related changes could materially reduce Zerodha’s revenue. The company reported a decline in revenue and profit for the financial year ended March 2025, which it attributed in part to lower derivatives activity and regulatory changes.

History

Zerodha was established in August 2010 by Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath as a discount brokerage. Nithin Kamath had experience in trading, and the founders built the company around the idea that high or percentage-based commissions created an unnecessary barrier for Indian retail investors. The business was bootstrapped with personal savings and a contribution from a Singapore-based friend, beginning with a small team. The company’s name expresses its central proposition: “zero” is paired with “rodha,” a Sanskrit term meaning barrier. Zerodha sought to reduce both the financial and practical barriers to market participation through online account opening, self-service execution and a simple pricing structure. Rather than relying primarily on branches and relationship managers, it invested in software and digital distribution. A significant technology phase began in 2013, when Kailash Nadh joined Zerodha and built its technology team. The company developed its main trading systems internally. Kite, its web and mobile trading interface, became the principal gateway for trading and portfolio monitoring, while Coin extended the brand into direct mutual-fund investing. The platforms emphasized live market information, charts, historical data, multilingual support and low-bandwidth performance. Zerodha’s customer base and market position grew through the second half of the 2010s. In 2019 it became India’s largest retail stockbroker by active client count, overtaking ICICI Securities. Around that period, the company accounted for a meaningful share of daily retail trading volume. In June 2020, an employee stock-option buyback implied a valuation of about $1 billion, making Zerodha one of India’s prominent bootstrapped technology companies. Its customer numbers increased sharply during the broader expansion of retail participation in Indian markets, reaching approximately 10 million by the end of 2022 in the cited material. Zerodha developed an ecosystem beyond core brokerage. Rainmatter, founded in 2014, became an early-stage investment initiative supporting financial-technology and investment startups such as Smallcase, Sensibull, GoldenPi and WintWealth. In 2019, the group launched True Beacon, an alternative investment fund using a defensive investment approach. Zerodha also applied for an asset-management licence in 2020 and launched Zerodha Fund House in 2023 in partnership with Smallcase. The fund house initially concentrated on direct index funds, avoiding distributor commissions through direct plans. The wider Rainmatter effort later expanded into climate and social initiatives. The Rainmatter Foundation supports environmental and livelihood-related projects through grants, fellowships and investments made through Rainmatter Climate. The FLOSS Fund, announced in 2024, extended the company’s support for technology infrastructure by committing funding to free and open-source software developers and communities. Growth also brought operational and regulatory challenges. Zerodha users have periodically reported outages, connectivity failures and platform glitches, particularly during market volatility or derivatives-expiry sessions. A widely reported disruption in November 2020 affected access to Kite, and the company acknowledged the problem. Such incidents highlighted the reliability requirements associated with serving millions of active traders. Regulation became especially important in 2024, when SEBI introduced measures intended to curb speculative activity in equity derivatives. Changes included restrictions affecting weekly options expiries, larger contract sizes, higher securities transaction tax and clearer requirements around charges. Nithin Kamath said the measures could reduce Zerodha’s revenue by 30% to 50% because index derivatives represented a substantial part of income. For the financial year ending March 2025, the company reported revenue of ₹8,847 crore and net profit of ₹4,237 crore, representing declines from the previous year according to the cited material. Kamath indicated that further restrictions could eventually lead Zerodha to consider brokerage on equity delivery trades, historically one of its key customer propositions. Zerodha remains a privately held Indian financial-services brand. Its strategic identity continues to combine low-cost brokerage, internally built technology, direct investing products and investments in adjacent financial, climate and software ecosystems.

2024
FLOSS Fund is announced
[1]Zerodhaen.wikipedia.org
Zerodha commits up to $1 million annually to free and open-source software projects and communities.
2023
Zerodha Fund House launches
[1]Zerodhaen.wikipedia.org
Zerodha and Smallcase launch an asset-management business focused initially on direct index funds.
2020
Zerodha reaches unicorn valuation
[1]Zerodhaen.wikipedia.org
An employee stock-option buyback implies a valuation of approximately $1 billion.
2019
Zerodha becomes India’s largest retail broker
[1]Zerodhaen.wikipedia.org
The company overtakes ICICI Securities by active retail client count.
2014
Rainmatter is founded
[1]Zerodhaen.wikipedia.org
Zerodha creates Rainmatter as an early-stage investment initiative for financial and technology startups.
2013
Technology team is established
[1]Zerodhaen.wikipedia.org
Kailash Nadh joins Zerodha and begins building the company’s in-house technology organization.
2010
Zerodha is founded
[1]Zerodhaen.wikipedia.org
Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath establish Zerodha as a bootstrapped discount brokerage in India.

Products and positioning

Low-cost, transparent and technology-led Indian brokerage with self-directed investing tools.

Trading platform
Kite
Kite is Zerodha’s principal web and mobile trading platform. It provides access to Indian equities, derivatives and other supported markets, with live quotes, charts, historical information, search, notifications and order-placement tools. The interface is designed to be lightweight and usable on relatively low bandwidth. Zerodha has also added features such as privacy mode, which hides live profit-and-loss information to reduce over-trading pressure and protect sensitive account information.
Mutual-fund platform
Coin
Coin is Zerodha’s direct mutual-fund investment platform. It allows customers to invest in direct mutual-fund plans without the distributor commissions associated with regular plans. The product extends Zerodha’s low-cost, self-directed model beyond listed securities into long-term fund investing.
Asset management · 2023
Zerodha Fund House
Zerodha Fund House is the group’s asset-management business, launched with Smallcase in 2023. It initially focused on direct index funds and structured its offering around low-cost products that do not pay commissions to distributors. The fund house represents Zerodha’s expansion from brokerage infrastructure into managed investment products.
Startup investment platform · 2014
Rainmatter
Rainmatter is an early-stage investment initiative supporting financial-technology, investment and adjacent technology businesses. Its portfolio has included companies associated with investment research, wealth products, bonds and portfolio construction. It functions as part of Zerodha’s broader ecosystem strategy rather than as a retail brokerage product.
Alternative investment fund · 2019
True Beacon
True Beacon is an alternative investment fund established by the Zerodha group in 2019. It has been described as using a defensive investment strategy and serves a different, higher-end investment segment from Zerodha’s mass-market retail brokerage.

Marketing campaigns

2024FLOSS Fund
Global
Zerodha announced a dedicated fund for free and open-source software projects, developers and communities, with a stated commitment of up to $1 million per year.
Outcome. Announced funding initiative; longer-term outcomes are not established in the supplied sources.
Source
Rainmatter Foundation
India
The Rainmatter Foundation supports climate, conservation, livelihoods and environmental initiatives through grants, fellowships and investments in climate-oriented companies.
Outcome. Ongoing foundation and investment program.
Source

Brand decisions

2024
Response to tighter equity-derivatives regulationStrategy
Background
SEBI introduced measures intended to reduce speculative derivatives activity, including changes to expiries, contract sizes, transaction taxes and fee disclosure.
Action taken
Nithin Kamath publicly warned that the changes could reduce Zerodha’s revenue by 30% to 50% and indicated that further restrictions might require brokerage on equity delivery trades.
Aftermath
Zerodha reported lower revenue and profit for the financial year ended March 2025, with reduced derivatives activity cited among the contributing factors.
Revenue and net profit. Revenue and profit were higher in the prior financial year → Revenue ₹8,847 crore; net profit ₹4,237 crore (Financial year ended March 2025)
Source
2023
Launch of Zerodha Fund HouseProduct launch
Background
Zerodha sought to expand from brokerage and direct investing into asset management.
Action taken
The company launched Zerodha Fund House in partnership with Smallcase, initially offering direct index funds.
Aftermath
The fund house became an additional business line within the Zerodha ecosystem.
Source

Recent events

2025
Zerodha reports lower revenue and profit for the year ended March 2025[1]Zerodhaen.wikipedia.org
Other · Regulation
The company reported its first decline in revenue and profit, attributing the change in part to derivatives restrictions and reduced trading activity.
2024
Zerodha launches FLOSS Fund[1]Zerodhaen.wikipedia.org
Campaign
Zerodha announced a fund supporting free and open-source software projects and communities globally.
2024
Indian derivatives reforms create pressure on Zerodha’s revenue model[1]Zerodhaen.wikipedia.org
Regulation · Pricing
SEBI measures affecting options expiries, contract sizes, transaction taxes and fee disclosure prompted Nithin Kamath to warn of a substantial potential revenue impact.
2023
Zerodha launches Zerodha Fund House[1]Zerodhaen.wikipedia.org
Product launch
The company entered asset management with a fund house established in partnership with Smallcase and focused initially on direct index funds.
2020
Zerodha reaches unicorn valuation through employee stock-option buyback[1]Zerodhaen.wikipedia.org
Other
An employee stock-option buyback implied a valuation of approximately $1 billion for the privately held company.
2020
Kite users report access problems during a technical disruption[1]Zerodhaen.wikipedia.org
Other
Users reported login and access problems on the Kite platform; Zerodha acknowledged the technical issue.
2019
Zerodha becomes India’s largest retail stockbroker by active client base[1]Zerodhaen.wikipedia.org
Other
Zerodha overtook ICICI Securities by active retail clients and became a leading participant in India’s online brokerage market.

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