This article talks about Upstox, its features, business model, fundings, and competitions faced by it.
More and more people are being attracted to the stock market in recent times. People are becoming aware of the benefits of investing in stocks and mutual funds. The primary reason for this increasing popularity of financial products in the country is the ease of the investment process that several brokerage Apps offer. People have plenty of investment platforms to choose from. They would only want to use a platform that is secure, stable, and reliable. Upstox has emerged as one such platform which offers a wide range of investment services in a safe and secure environment.
About Upstox
Founded in 2011, by Ravi Kumar, Raghu Kumar, and Shrinivas Viswanath, Upstox is a discount brokerage company operating in India. Upstox has initially created with the name RKSV securities. In the year 2009, the founders of Upstox started their proprietary trading firm together. Later on, in 2011, they shifted to a zero-brokerage plan and an online-only stock trading platform. Upstox is one of the first to begin a discount brokerage firm in the country. Upstox is highly committed to offering high-tech discount brokerage services to its clients through 100% online trading platforms. Upstox is a highly reliable and secure platform as it is registered with SEBI as a discount broker and is also a member of NSE, BSE, and MCX. Upstox has gained huge popularity in a short span of time, which is evident from its huge customer base. Upstox has served more than 5 million investors on its platform. Upstox offers a wide range of products and services to their users through their on-the-spot trading platforms such as Upstox Pro Web and Upstox Pro Mobile App. Upstox offers its users many productive tools like Brokerage Calculator, Margin Calculator, Options Strategy Builder, and Order Generator. Investors can invest and trade in various different segments of the financial markets including Equity, Derivatives, Commodity, Currency Futures, Mutual Funds, and IPOs. Upstox is also a Depository Participant (DP) for both CDSL & NSDL.
Why should you choose to Invest through Upstox App?
Upstox platform offers you some prominent qualities and advanced techniques. The user interface of Upstox is very simple and easy to handle. In addition to an ideal interface, Upstox App also offers easy navigation options across all your portfolios and a sound search bar to locate stocks, mutual funds, commodities, etc. Some of the features of Upstox that makes it one of the best investment platforms in India are as follows:
- Large Range of Financial Products: Through Upstox, you can access a wide range of financial products. You can invest and trade in all the stocks, equity futures, and options available on NSE and BSE. You can also trade futures and options on currencies (forex). Upstox also allows you access to the Multi-Commodity Exchange of India (MCX). Apart from these, you can also buy and sell mutual funds and apply for IPOs of new stocks through the Upstox platform.
- Search Tool: Upstox allows you to search for complex and straightforward stocks or mutual funds with a single touch or click. Not only this, once you search for a company, the platform gives you the complete details of the company or fund including its performance, latest news updates, financials, technical and other information beneficial for your trading.
- High-Tech Charting Tool: Upstox offers you a highly advanced charting tool that helps you compare and examine stocks and mutual funds with the use of interactive charts. Upstox allows you to buy or sell stocks directly through the charts. It also allows you access to some additional services like mutual fund screeners, margin calculators, option strategy builders, and setting alerts to track stock movements, news, etc.
- Real-Time Market Feeds: Upstox platform has integrated real-time market feeds to guide its users about the market changes and updates during market hours. It also provides its user with the latest market news and statistics and thus allows users to be well-informed about all the trading and investing opportunities.
- Funds Maintenance: Upstox facilitates maintenance of your account and funds by maintaining your current Mark to Market Accounting, Margin Funds, and others. Through the Add Option, you can also add multiple funds to your account.
Business & Revenue Model of Upstox
When you trade or invest in stock markets, you have to pay the broker a commission for their services. Usually, this brokerage commission is computed as a percentage of the total value of the trade. Upstox has become a disruptor in the brokerage industry as it is charging a flat fee as brokerage commission. Upstox is charging Rs. 20 or 2.5% whichever is lower, per executed order of equity delivery, and Rs. 20 or 0.05%, whichever is lower, per executed order of equity intraday and futures. Further, it is charging flat fees of Rs. 20 per executed order of equity options.
Upstox came up with the revolutionary business idea of an online-only business model. Upstox has only one central operational branch in Mumbai, unlike other brokerage firms having hundreds of branches across the country. This helps Upstox to keep its operative cost low. Upstox does not provide advisory services to clients as it believes it to be a conflict of interest for them. Upstox strongly believes in word-of-mouth referrals rather than incurring unnecessary marketing costs. So far Upstox has successfully lowered its overhead costs, prioritized customer service, and embraced the technology to become a profitable firm.
With more and more investors adopting Upstox’s low-cost brokerage model, it aims to continue up-scaling its business model.
Funding and Investors of Upstox
According to a Moneycontrol report dated March 30, 2021, as per the ongoing negotiations, Upstox is valued at around $1 billion. Upstox is backed by veteran industrialist Ratan Tata and US equity venture capital firm Tiger Global. Upstox is exploring options for a public listing in the US financial market through a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) route.
Competitors of Upstox
The Indian market is witnessing an increase in fintech companies and startups. Upstox faces intense competition from companies like Zerodha, Groww, and Paytm Money. The online brokerage industry in India is growing at a rapid pace with many investors opening their trading accounts for the first time during the pandemic. With this increase in the growth of the digital brokerage industry, the competition is also increasing. Upstox also has to also compete with companies including Angel Broking, Sharekhan, IIFL, 5paisa, etc. for their market.
Conclusion
Upstox provides a wide range of productive features to its users like multiple trading platforms, a huge variety of financial products, and easy access to customer services. Upstox offers its services at a lower charge than most of the other brokers available in the market. Upstox Global Investment platform allows users to trade stocks from 60 different stock exchanges across the globe. Upstox is suited for all kinds of investors and especially for those looking for low-cost trading opportunities.