Nithin Kamath’s Zerodha has made a fresh investment in Capitalmind Financial Services, a SEBI-registered portfolio management company founded by Deepak Shenoy. The funding comes via Rainmatter, Zerodha’s long-term investment arm focused on supporting innovative financial ventures.
Announcing the development on X, Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath reflected on how things had come full circle. “It is sometimes surreal how life comes full circle,” he wrote.
“Deepak Shenoy was among the first people I spoke to about the idea of Zerodha. When we started, he agreed to lend his credibility by having his name on our website as an advisor.” Kamath added that he was glad to support Shenoy’s venture through Rainmatter while sharing a picture with Shenoy.
Deepak Shenoy, responding to Kamath’s post, recalled those early days fondly. “Many thanks Nithin! I can’t even believe that at one time, I had credibility to give to Zerodha!” he wrote. “I remember carrying the early Zerodha forms in my Hyundai Accent in Gurgaon – telling people how much brokerage they would save.”
Shenoy’s portfolio management company recently secured a mutual fund license. This investment marks the company’s first institutional funding round. Speaking to Moneycontrol, Shenoy noted that the two companies have had a long-standing relationship.
“We’ve known each other for years and had several conversations about our businesses. Rainmatter’s approach is hands-off, and there’s strong alignment with Zerodha’s philosophy. We’ve also had discussions with Zerodha Fund House,” he said.
Based out of Bengaluru, Zerodha was started 15 years back in August 2010 by Nithin and Nikhil Kamath as a bootstrapped venture with a mission to simplify and lower the cost of trading in India.
In 2019, Zerodha became a ‘unicorn’ with a self-assigned valuation of roughly $1 billion based on ESOP buyback. In 2020, the company applied for a license to set up an AMC mutual fund in India and launched its fund house in 2023.
Zerodha deals in equity trading, derivatives trading, currency trading, commodity trading, and mutual funds. Over the years, it has grown to become the country’s largest stock brokerage, turning the Kamath brothers into billionaires.
