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In today’s newsletter:

• Groww, Zerodha, Angel One user base contracts 
• TCS Q1: Lacklustre revenue growth, beat on profits 
• Why Fintechs are investing in Model Context Protocol

P.S.: Introducing the Tech3 Podcast, your daily dose of tech and startup insights. Monday to Friday! Check it out on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

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2025 has not been kind to brokerage firms…at least not so far.

The top four brokers, Groww, Zerodha, Angel One, and Upstox,  have cumulatively lost 20 lakh active investors during the first half of the year.

• Market leaders Groww and Zerodha together saw a decline of 11 lakh active investors

The third-largest broker, Angel One, has lost 4.5 lakh active investors, and Upstox has lost a little more than 3 lakh active investors.

Investors attribute the drop to multiple restrictions imposed by markets regulator SEBI on Futures and Options (F&O) trading, along with waning interest among retail investors.

• To be sure, this decline follows the addition of 1 crore active investors by these broking firms in 2024

• The loss of active investors amounts to around 5% of their overall user base

The decline in investor interest comes as a surprise, given that markets have been delivering positive returns over the past five months.

• The exodus is primarily from retail derivative traders who had entered during the 2023 and 2024 bull run

According to SEBI, around 90% of retail F&O traders incur losses.

"Increased awareness, sustained market corrections and increased volatility over the past six months have made consistent profits difficult, discouraging retail participation," says Rajesh Palviya of Axis Securities.

Dig deeper

Tata Consultancy Services’ (TCS) revenue drops as the BSNL call ends in Q1.

• TCS reported a revenue decline in the first quarter of FY26, largely due to the winding down of its Rs 15,000 crore BSNL project

The India business, which had been growing at a strong double-digit pace for several quarters, saw a 21.7% year-on-year (YoY) decline in constant currency (CC) terms.

This dragged overall revenue down by 3.3% YoY in CC terms to Rs 63,437 crore–missing Street estimates. 

• According to Bloomberg data, this was the lowest revenue growth since the beginning of FY21

Despite the revenue slum, TCS posted a 6% YoY jump in net profit to Rs 12,760 crore. The profit boost was thanks to reduced expenses on equipment and software licensees as a large transformation project drew to a close.

TCS CEO and MD K. Krithivasan said there are delays in deal closures due to ongoing macroeconomic challenges but said he remains optimistic about stronger international business revenue in FY26 compared to FY25.

• On the wage hike roll out, the company maintained that it is yet to make a decision

TCS management remains bullish on emerging service lines, including AI, cloud, cybersecurity, data, and modernization, which are generating strong opportunities. 

•  TCS also clocked robust deal wins worth $9.4 billion in Q1

Dig deeper

Also read: TCS Q1 results: Headcount up 5,090 in second straight quarterly increase

India’s top fintechs, including Zerodha, Razorpay, Fi Money, and PayU, are laying the foundation for a new class of intelligent financial experiences powered by Model Context Protocol (MCP). 

This behind-the-scenes tech acts as a secure bridge between AI tools like ChatGPT and real financial data, enabling users to interact with their money in plain language without compromising privacy.

• Forget dashboards or API calls 

MCP lets AI assistants check portfolios, initiate refunds, or generate payment links using simple prompts like “How much did I spend on food last month?” or “Send a Rs 500 link to Neha.”

Zerodha’s Kite app now allows users to run stock backtests or query their portfolio via AI agents. 

• Fi Money’s “Talk to AI” feature streams a user’s entire financial data to a smart assistant
  
  
• Razorpay even launched India’s first MCP server for a payment gateway, enabling transactions via prompts

MCP is essentially a secure wrapper over APIs, easy for devs to set up, but scalable versions can cost up to $200,000. Still, fintechs see long-term value in user stickiness, insights, and future product innovation.

With great power comes responsibility. Experts warn of data privacy risks and a lack of guardrails around AI-led financial decision-making. 

“To have intelligent, personalised financial recommendations, you need two things: powerful AI and live, accurate data. That’s why fintechs are building MCPs,” said Tanuj Bhojwani, an independent technology expert.

Find out more 

• OpenAI is set to launch an AI-powered web browser in the coming weeks, aiming to challenge Google Chrome by reimagining how users browse the web and gaining more direct access to valuable user data.
  
  
• Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI has launched Grok 4, an updated version of its flagship AI model, in its latest move to compete with OpenAI and Google.

When Artificial Intelligence (AI) markets better than you, influencers sound the alarm.

• Marketers, on the other hand, say AI is driving a 40% boost in productivity

Inside the AI writer’s room: Grok, Perplexity, and DeepSeek are the top tools for influencers.

AI boom incoming: India eyes a $17 billion market as generative AI powers smart content at scale.

Find out more

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