Early investors in stock‑trading platform Dhan have just locked in one of the sharpest fintech exits in recent memory, off the back of the company’s $120‑million Series B unicorn round.
The secondary exits: 45X in under four years
Dhan’s parent, Raise Financial Services, recently closed a $120‑million (≈₹1,065‑crore) Series B led by Hornbill Capital, with participation from MUFG Bank, BEENEXT, Mirae, 3one4 Capital, and several family offices and public‑market investors such as Ramesh Damani, DSP and JM Financial family offices, and Aashish Somaiyaa.
- The round values Raise/Dhan at about $1.2 billion, marking its entry into the unicorn club less than four years after launch.
- Alongside the primary infusion, the round included a sizeable secondary component where several early angels exited.
- According to reports, angels including CRED founder Kunal Shah, Miten Sampat, and a few PhonePe‑network investors sold out completely, clocking up to 45X returns on cheques written roughly 3–4 years ago.
- Early institutional investors like Mirae, BEENEXT and 3one4 Capital are said to have partially sold, generating 9–10X returns in about three years while staying on the cap table for further upside.
Sources describe this as one of the fastest high‑multiple liquidity events in Indian fintech—rare because early‑stage exits at such multiples usually come only at or after IPO, not pre‑IPO secondaries.
The company is estimated to be sitting on $160–180 million of cash post‑round, giving it a strong war chest for acquisitions (including algo‑investing startup Stratzy) and expansion.
What Dhan is and how it competes
Dhan is a tech‑led stockbroking and investing platform operated by Raise Financial Services, founded by former Paytm Money CEO Pravin Jadhav in 2021. It targets serious traders and long‑term investors with a product‑first approach rather than pure price wars.
- Segments: Equity delivery & intraday, F&O, commodities, currency, ETFs, mutual funds and IPOs.
- Apps:
- APIs & tools: Trading APIs, web terminals, TradingView and ChartIQ integrations, webhooks, and plug‑ins for quant/algo traders.
- Pricing: Discount‑brokerage style—typically zero brokerage on equity delivery and low per‑order pricing on intraday and derivatives, competing with Zerodha, Groww, Angel One, Upstox and others.
Dhan differentiates itself with deep tools for traders (especially in options and systematic strategies), high‑quality charts, and a focus on speed and reliability rather than gamified UX.
Scale and market position
Dhan is still a challenger, but one of the fastest‑growing among new‑age brokers:
- As of April 2025, Dhan had ~9.8 lakh active NSE clients, up from about 9.6 lakh in January, making it one of the top 10–12 brokers by active clients in India.
- NSE data cited by media shows Dhan’s active client base grew around 3% month‑on‑month in early 2025, one of the highest growth rates among brokers, even as some older platforms saw stagnation or decline.
- For FY24, Raise/Dhan reported ₹380 crore in revenue and ₹155 crore net profit, swinging from a loss of ₹22 crore the prior year.
- For FY25, the firm is expected to clock around ₹900 crore in revenue, more than 2× YoY growth, backed by rising trading activity and monetisation of premium tools and APIs.
In terms of overall market share, Dhan is still small compared with giants like Groww (~1.3 crore active clients), Zerodha and Angel One (each 70–80 lakh+), which together control roughly 40%+ of active retail traders. But within the “new wave” of brokers launched post‑2020, Dhan is among the most prominent and fastest‑scaling.
Strategy and use of fresh capital
Management and investors say the $120‑million Series B will be used to:
- Strengthen technology & AI capabilities across risk management, personalisation, and trading tools.
- Expand product breadth, including deeper analytics, financial data layers, educational content and possibly lending/wealth products over time.
- Drive acquisitions:
- In November 2025, Raise fully acquired algo‑trading startup Stratzy in a $4–4.5‑million cash‑and‑stock deal, planning to keep it as an independent unit while integrating its quant strategies and automated trading tools into Dhan.
- The company is reportedly exploring more tuck‑in deals in analytics, research and B2B tooling.
With SEBI pushing for safer access to algorithmic trading and retail appetite for quant tools rising, the Stratzy deal and API‑first approach are meant to position Dhan as the go‑to broker for active and algo‑savvy traders, not just casual investors.
Why this exit is a big signal
For the ecosystem, Dhan’s secondary transactions highlight a few notable shifts:
- Fintech isn’t “dead” for VCs: Well‑run, profitable platforms with real revenues can still command high valuations and deliver 10–45X outcomes within a short span.
- Sophisticated trading is going mass: Dhan’s focus on F&O, APIs and algos reflects where India’s more serious retail investors are heading; the Stratzy buy shows brokers see value in owning the tools layer, not just the execution rails.
- Unicorn status with profits: Unlike several loss‑heavy tech unicorns, Dhan hit a $1.2‑billion valuation after turning meaningfully profitable, which is likely to resonate with public‑market investors if and when it considers an IPO.
Net‑net, Dhan sits today as a profitable, fast‑growing challenger in India’s crowded brokerage market—large enough to matter, small enough to keep compounding—and its early angels exiting at up to 45X have just provided one of the clearest proof points that disciplined, product‑led fintech can still generate outsized returns in India.
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