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In today’s newsletter: 

• Groww files for Rs 6,000-7,000 cr IPO
• How former Gameskraft CFO blew Rs 250 crore on F&O trading
• US firms lead India’s GCC surge

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For millions, Groww is where monthly SIPs quietly compound. Now, the platform itself is looking to multiply value.

Groww has filed an updated DRHP for a Rs 6,000–7,000 crore IPO, with Rs 1,060 crore in fresh capital and the rest via an offer for sale by early investors like Peak XV, Y Combinator, Ribbit Capital, and Tiger Global.

• The founders, Lalit Keshre, Harsh Jain, Neeraj Singh, and Ishan Bansal, will offload only 0.07% stake while holding on to 26.6%

• Listing is targeted for November, with the price band expected by mid-October

Groww is aiming for a valuation of up to $9 billion on the back of active user growth and strong profit margins, as we previously reported.

Groww's financial flex is real:

• Q1 FY26 net profit: Rs 378 crore (up 11% YoY)

• FY25 profit: Rs 1,819 crore (3x growth)

• FY25 revenue: Rs 4,056 crore (up 31%)

Meanwhile, the competition is struggling; Zerodha and Angel One have seen 20-30% drops in revenues since Q4 FY25 due to higher trading taxes and reduced exchange rebates.

Alongside commodities and margin trading, it now runs its own asset management company and is preparing to launch new wealth verticals via its Fisdom acquisition. 

• The scale is equally striking: 18 million active investors (as per internal data), a 26% market share on the NSE, and in June 2025 alone, one in every three new SIPs flowed through Groww

Looks like the house can lose too…when the CFO starts playing his own game. 

Ramesh Prabhu, former Group CFO of real-money gaming firm Gameskraft, diverted company funds into personal futures and options (F&O) trading for nearly five years, causing losses of over Rs 250 crore.

• He disclosed this to the company in a 'voluntary' confession email on March 5, taking full ownership

Prabhu's admission surfaced in an FIR filed at the Marathahalli police station after a complaint by Gameskraft. 

• According to the FIR, Prabhu “dishonestly” siphoned off Rs 270.43 crore over nearly five years

A "fact-finding" review by Gameskraft found he had executed unauthorised financial transactions worth Rs 231.39 crore between FY20 and FY25.

• Of this, Rs 211.53 crore was falsely shown as ‘investments’ in the company’s books 

Prabhu also allegedly altered bank statements and fabricated mutual fund statements as proof of investments to conceal the diversion of funds.

The company said it had to write off Rs 270.43 crore in its FY25 numbers, dragging its net profit to Rs 706 crore from Rs 947 crore in FY24. 

Earlier this month, Gameskraft had attributed the profit decline mainly to the 28% GST regime on online gaming, which pushed tax outflows from Rs 1,512 crore in FY24 to Rs 2,526 crore in FY25.

Gameskraft discontinued its online rummy apps, including Rummyculture, last month after India's new online gaming law imposed a blanket ban on real-money games. 

• The company also said it won't pursue a legal challenge 

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court’s verdict in the high-stakes Rs 2.5 lakh crore GST online money gaming case still hangs over the bootstrapped firm.

Go deeper

American multinationals are set to dominate India’s next wave of global capability centres (GCCs)

• Nearly 70% — about 350 of the 500 upcoming GCCs by 2030 — will be US-headquartered, per ANSR data.

These MNCs are doubling down their investments in India.

• The next phase will be driven not just by BFSI and tech giants but also by mid-market enterprise software players
  
  
• Currently, around 60% of India’s 1,700+ GCCs are US-headquartered

Beyond its tech talent, India is benefiting from multiple geopolitical tailwinds. 

• Robust policy frameworks, including free trade agreements and state-level GCC policies, have created momentum

Global dynamics such as the China+1 strategy, talent shortages in Europe, and demand for multilingual, domain-rich roles are further accelerating the trend.

• The impact? India is expected to see an additional 900,000 jobs created through GCCs by 2030

Non-US players are ramping up, too. UK and European firms are expanding their footprint, while Japanese GCCs are growing at twice the pace.

• Japanese GCCs are expected to surge from 85 in 2025 to 150 by 2028, Inductus’ market analysis showed

Dig deeper

• OpenAI has hired Mike Liberatore, former finance chief at Elon Musk's xAI, to be the artificial intelligence startup's business finance officer, responsible for overseeing its AI infrastructure.
  
  
• Meta is set to unveil $800 AI-powered smart glasses with a built-in display at its annual Connect event, even as the company faces scrutiny over child safety on its social platforms.

Dream11 got bowled out by India's online gaming law, so Apollo Tyres stepped up to the crease. 

The tyre giant is now Indian cricket's jersey sponsor through 2027, paying Rs 4.5 crore per match…

• …a 50-lakh upgrade from Dream11's deal

It is still uncertain whether the women’s cricket team will display their new sponsor’s logo on their jerseys during the upcoming Women's World Cup.

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