Stock advisory Univest raises $10 million in Series A funding led by Bertelsmann India

(L-R) Pranit Arora, Avneet Dhamija, Vikash Agrawal, founders, Univest

Univest, a Gurugram-based stock advisory platform, has secured $10 million in Series A funding, led by Bertelsmann India Investments (BII).

The funding will allow the firm to scale its platform, which offers stock recommendations, trade execution, and market insights for retail investors.

Founded in 2022 by Pranit Arora, Avneet Dhamija, and Vikash Agarwal, Univest offers general recommendations through its SEBI-registered RA entity, Uniresearch. It provides expert trading advice across stocks, derivatives, and commodities besides portfolio tracking tools.

In a span of two years, the firm has managed to gain quick traction attracting over 3 million signups and 1.5 lakh paid subscribers, it said. The platform claims an 85 percent success rate on profitable calls, with 60 percent of its recommendations hitting target prices.

It had previously raised $1.5 million in a seed funding round from Trinity Media Group, Akash Anand (Bella Vita Organic) and Deep Bajaj (Sirona).

"The funds will enable us to scale our research-first, full-stack brokerage offering, creating India’s first true stock market superapp for retail investors. Our focus will remain on delivering seamless, personalised, 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," said Pranit Arora, Co-Founder and CEO of Univest.

Pankaj Makkar, Managing Director at Bertelsmann India Investments, emphasised the gap in advisory services for retail investors, saying, “Univest’s advisory-led model is uniquely positioned to bridge this gap. We believe they will play a pivotal role in enabling retail investors to make informed decisions and unlock their full wealth potential.”

In addition to the funding, Univest was recently selected for the Google for Startups Accelerator Cohort 2024.