Trading app set to triple valuation thanks to India’s huge user acquisition opportunities

The news: India-based Groww is in talks to raise $250 million, which would push its valuation to $3 billion, up from $1 billion in April, per TechCrunch.

What does it do? Groww offers users access to stocks, mutual funds, and gold. It charges INR 20 ($0.27) or 0.05% per executed order, depending on which is cheaper.

Here’s why it could triple its valuation: After becoming a unicorn earlier this year, Groww acquired asset manager Indiabulls’ mutual fund business to broaden investing options for users and is on track to hit $35 million in annual recurring revenues (ARR).

And Groww’s backers likely see significant user acquisition opportunities for the fintech in the coming years:

• Fintech-savvy consumers. With fewer than 30 million people in a country of more than 1.38 billion investing in mutual funds and stocks, per TechCrunch, Groww has a massive opportunity to bring in customers. And given that 37% of consumers are already accustomed to digital transactions, they’re likely interested in investing digitally too.
• Surging internet adoption. Millions of consumers living in rural areas lack access to traditional financial services, but improving internet access is letting fintechs step in. More than 60% of Groww users come from smaller cities and towns.
• Potential crypto addition. Groww is mulling the addition of crypto trading, which may have further excited potential backers. Crypto investments in the country jumped 612% year over year in April 2021 to $6.6 billion, up from $923 million.

The bigger picture: Indian fintech unicorns are multiplying at a rapid rate as the country’s tech-savvy yet underserved population makes investors bullish across fintech sectors.

India already hit $2.06 billion in fintech funding in H1, compared with $2.25 billion for all of 2020, pushing more startups into the unicorn club, including insurtech Digit Insurance, alt lender Five Star Business Finance, and credit card aggregator Cred. And the past year’s retail investing boom is doing the same for digital brokers like crypto exchanges CoinDCX and CoinSwitch.