Explainer: How new-age brokers like Groww, Angel One created a demat revolution in India

Fiscal 2024-2025 saw lakhs of young Indians flock to the country’s equity markets, lifting retail participation to new heights. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) alone saw a whopping 84 lakh new active demat accounts added, with more than half of it coming from the new kids on the block—Groww and Angel One.

These two digital brokerages added 48.6 lakh new accounts—more than 57 per cent of all net additions to the NSE pool in FY2025. The NSE’s active demat accounts grew by 20.5 per cent in the period, hitting a total of 4.92 crore.

In the fiscal, 34 lakh new accounts were added by Groww, 14.6 lakh by Angel One, and 5.8 lakh by Zerodha.

In March 2025, Groww’s active user base rose 36 per cent year-on-year to 1.29 crore—that’s a market share of more than 26 per cent. Angel One’s active user base rose 17.38 per cent to 75.7 lakh, driving up its market share to more than 15 per cent.

Zerodha, at the fiscal end, also held a market share significantly more than 15 per cent, despite adding much lower accounts during the year. On the other hand, brokerage Dhan saw almost 90 per cent growth despite its pool of 9.6 lakh clients.

These new kids on the block—armed with technology, smooth user interfaces, and an app-first approach, took the market by storm.

In comparison, traditional brokers HDFC Securities and ICICI Securities hold just roughly 3-4 per cent market share each with a client base of at least 14.8 lakh active clients and 19.4 lakh active clients, respectively.

A bigger piece of the pie is now held by digital brokerage, as the young investors of India move to smartphone-friendly investing that is often simplified by these platforms, gaining more investor confidence. And just like that, Dalal Street and its tribulations are now not just for the elite in tier-1 metros—India’s new investors are an emerging lot from tier-2, tier-3 cities and even rural towns.

As equity markets move to another week of corporate quarterly earnings, updates related to US tariffs and foreign fund inflow-outflow are expected to drive sentiments.

Global crude prices and forex rates would also be a focus, according to market experts.

“This week, we expect gradual up-move to continue in the Indian market, driven by supporting factors like FII buying interest, cool-off in domestic inflation and IMD’s forecast of an above-normal monsoon,” Motilal Oswal Financial Services’s research head of wealth management, Siddhartha Khemka, told agencies recently.

HDFC Bank, Infosys, and ICICI Bank have already posted earnings during the long weekend. Other major names expected to report quarterly numbers this week are Axis Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Maruti Suzuki, and HCL Tech.

As far as FII activity is concerned, ₹14,670 crore flowed back to Indian equity markets from foreign investors in the last three trading days of the week. During the week, the Sensex gained 4.51 per cent, while the Nifty jumped 4.48 per cent, with experts attributing it to the weakening American currency.

As signs point to a possible resurgence of the Indian market, the new age, accessible brokerages are expected to play a pivotal role in shaping a new era in retail equity investing in the country.

Business