Kolkata-based financial markets education and analytics-focused fintech firm - Kredent InfoEdge Pvt. Ltd. (KIPL), which owns and operates the platforms - StockEdge and Elearnmarkets.com, aims to grow its user base from over 23 lakh currently to 1 crore by FY23, following the recent capital infusion of Rs 10 crore by Kotak Securities. The company is also looking to raise Series A in a few months from now.

KIPL, the holding company for both StockEdge and Elearnmarkets.com, has invested in building an alternate ecosystem for first time investors in India with the intent to democratise the financial markets. Currently, the company has two growing platforms under its fold - Elearnmarkets.com for financial education and StockEdge for data analytics in stock markets and mutual funds.

Around 60 percent of users in both the platforms are first time market entrants in the average age group of 24-30. In terms of gender distribution, about 20 percent of the total users are women. Similarly, the platforms have witnessed a significant uptick in users from Tier 2/3 cities. The company sees these segments as the next big growth drivers.

The company will deploy the funds raised towards the strategies of the future – launching a social investing platform, a marketplace of experts as well as gamification of financial market education.

Commenting on the market opportunity, Co-founder and CEO Vineet Patawari said, “Financial markets are certainly experiencing a dramatic shift – from a traditional commission-driven model to a DIY user-driven platform model. The emergence of direct equity as an asset class has been greatly augmented by the pandemic with over 1.50 crores new investors added in the last 15 months in the Indian market. With retail participation in India at a measly 4% of the population, there is sizeable headroom to grow, and as a full-stack player in a highly fragmented market, we are well poised to capitalize on the post-pandemic opportunity awaiting us.”

Speaking about the future, Co-founder and MD Vivek Bajaj said, “We started as a financial education company and evolved to become an alternate ecosystem for retail investors covering learn, analyze, collaborate and transact as stages of the investor’s journey. With the current round of capital infusion by Kotak Securities and others, we are on track to fulfil our mission to truly empower retail investors in India.”

The company follows a freemium business model across both platforms. In Elearnmarkets.com, consumers get free learning content and progress to transact by buying specialized advanced learning modules like courses or webinars. In StockEdge, they subscribe to advanced paid features such as actionable analytics and premium community access.