Secured $10 million in a series led by a funding round (BII), German giant Bertelsmann SE & Co. In addition to equity capital from Bertelsmann, KGaA’s strategic investment arm.
The company aims to be a research-first stock market super app for retail investors – providing solutions for everything from choosing the right picks to timely exits on a single platform, it said in a statement.
“Over the past two years, Univest has been on a remarkable growth trajectory, helping millions of investors make confident, informed decisions. With this funding round, we are excited to accelerate our mission to democratize access to high-quality research. The funding will enable us to scale our research-first, full-stack brokerage offering, creating India’s first real stock market superapp for retail investors,” said Praneet Arora, Co-Founder and CEO, Univest.
“Our focus will be on providing seamless, personalized, and actionable insights that simplify the investment journey for our users. We look forward to leveraging this partnership to redefine the brokerage model and establish Univest as the go-to platform for retail investors in India,” added Arora. .
According to Pankaj Makkar, Managing Director, Bertelsmann India: “Current investment solutions mainly cater to the ultra-high-net-worth and high-income segments, which leaves retail investors – more than 85% of the market – without access to meaningful advisory services. These investors are left to navigate a fragmented and disjointed investment landscape. Univest’s mentor-led model is uniquely positioned to bridge this gap. “
As the retail investor base grows, the demand for advisory services will increase and “platforms like Univest will play an important role in making the right calls to these investors and unlocking their full asset potential,” he added.
Established in 2022, Univest provides general recommendations through its SEBI-registered RA entity, Uniresearch. The company was also selected for the Google for Startup Accelerator Cohort 2024.