Nithin Kamath’s story is as remarkable as it is inspiring. While most entrepreneurs dream of funding rounds and venture capital, Nithin set out to build a business entirely on his own terms. With nothing but his passion for the stock market, a keen sense of innovation, and a relentless work ethic, he turned Zerodha into one of India’s most successful financial technology firms—now valued at over ₹30,000 crore.
Nithin Kamath’s fascination with the stock market began early. At just 17 years old, he managed his father’s trading account. By 2001, he was juggling a full-time job at a call center and trading with a modest salary of ₹8,000. His early experiences weren’t always smooth. The market crash of 2008 left him with a ₹5 lakh loss—a hard blow for any trader. But where others might have given up, Nithin saw an opportunity.
At that time, brokers were charging hefty commissions of around 2% on trades. Even though technology platforms like NSE’s NOW had emerged, trading remained expensive. Nithin wondered: if the technology was essentially free, why couldn’t trading costs come down as well?
The idea of discount broking took root, and on August 15, 2010, Nithin Kamath and his brother Nikhil launched Zerodha.
The premise was simple: a flat ₹20 fee per trade, regardless of portfolio size. With just five team members, Zerodha began offering affordable trading options to day traders. Remarkably, Zerodha acquired its first 1,000 customers without spending a single rupee on advertising. Instead, they relied on word of mouth, even offering a 10% referral fee to encourage satisfied clients to spread the word.
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Nithin Kamath noticed that many users opened accounts but didn’t actually trade. Rather than accepting this as a limitation, he decided to empower his users. In 2014, he launched Zerodha Varsity, a free, user-friendly educational platform designed to teach people how to navigate the stock market. The results were transformative: Zerodha rapidly grew to 60,000 active accounts.
By 2015, Nithin Kamath and his team introduced “Kite,” a revolutionary one-click trading platform. Gone were the days of cumbersome paper-based trading. Kite streamlined the entire process, making it more accessible and intuitive. The user base soared to over 1,00,000 active accounts by 2016, and the platform quickly established itself as a favorite among India’s traders.
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As the mutual fund industry in India began to take off, Nithin Kamath saw another opportunity. In April 2017, Zerodha launched “Coin,” a direct mutual fund platform. Within just a year, Coin attracted 1.5 lakh investors, who collectively invested ₹3,400 crore and saved over ₹30 crore in commissions. The success of Coin was a testament to Zerodha’s commitment to transparency, affordability, and user empowerment.
Zerodha’s growth over the years has been nothing short of extraordinary. By 2019, the platform had 10 lakh users and had become the largest stockbroking company in the country by volume. By August 2020, Zerodha reached unicorn status—achieving a billion-dollar valuation without a single round of funding. That year, it reported ₹1,100 crore in revenue and ₹430 crore in profit.
Today, Zerodha boasts over 65 lakh active clients, and its most recent annual revenue stands at ₹6,875 crore, with ₹2,907 crore in profits. While the financial metrics are impressive, Nithin’s proudest achievement remains the trust and goodwill he has cultivated. Zerodha’s success is driven not by expensive marketing campaigns or flashy investments, but by the genuine recommendations of over 10 lakh satisfied customers.
Nithin Kamath’s journey is a testament to what can be achieved through innovation, perseverance, and a customer-first mindset. His vision has not only revolutionized trading in India but also demonstrated that you don’t need to follow the conventional funding path to build a world-class company. Zerodha’s remarkable rise under Nithin’s leadership is a story that continues to inspire traders, entrepreneurs, and dreamers across the nation.
