Exclusive Interview With Kritesh Abhishek, Founder and CEO of Trade Brains

Ideapreneur India spoke to Kritesh Abhishek, Founder and CEO of TradeBrains, to know more about Trade Brains.

1. When were you founded?

Trade Brains is Indian stock research and financial education website that was founded in 2018. The startup's goal is to make the stock market easier to understand for its target audience by providing relevant material and courses. Furthermore, the company provides investors with a fundamental research tool called Portal by Trade Brains, which provides stock market data that allows users to make informed investment decisions.

2. How many employees do you have?

Currently we have 30 employees working. And, we plan on extending our workforce accordingly.

(Kritesh Abhishek, Founder and CEO of TradeBrains)

3. How do you get an idea to start this venture?

Stock trading has never been easier than it is now, thanks to the internet and the rising accessibility of smartphones. Furthermore, regulatory authorities' technologically compatible requirements and many online stock brokers make it extremely accessible for the average person to enter the stock market. While recent technological advancements have benefited individuals in learning to trade, Indians continue to rely on the traditional mode of investment, fixed deposits, due to a lack of awareness about the secondary market. Trade Brains was created in an attempt to instill financial literacy in the brains of individuals.

4. Is the company funded?

No, the company is bootstrapped.

5. Briefly explain the business?

Trade Brains was created with the DIY (do-it-yourself) investing philosophy in mind, with the goal of providing its audience with a simplified understanding of investing so that they can make well-informed decisions and earn higher returns on their stock market investments. To help retail investors, the platform includes integrated features such as Stock's fundamental analysis, portfolio analysis, stock comparison, and screener, among others. We recently launched a Trade Brains Portal app & it gained a lot of traction. We have launched the app on both Android & iOS platforms.

6. How different from others?

An umbrella platform leveraging the power of new-age tech to enable the next generation of earners and savers to learn how to invest, Stay updated with the financial world, Research efficiently, and deploy their cash profitably. 

7. What’s your revenue model?

Trade Brains Portal has freemium business model, where for premium features users have to pay subscription fee. Apart from that we are in partnership with most of the big stock brokers and do advertainment for them.

8. How fast are you growing?

Trade Brains has had exponential growth in terms of users and repeat business since its beginning. Owing to excessive customer demand, the firm recently released an app version of their stock analytics platform for both Android and iOS. In the following year, the business plans to expand the app's functionality and widgets, as well as increase client acquisition. In addition, Trade Brains plans to increase the number of its workforce in order to handle increased demand and improve customer service quality. Trade Brains is poised to make financial literacy and stock trading the standard in the country, thanks to its clear goal.

(Image: Trade brains team)

9. Where did you get the idea for this company?

I have been interested in the stock market and the financial sector since his college days and has invested in stocks. Since then, I have been keeping a careful eye on the market. However, after landing my first job, I began investing a large chunk of my pay in the stock market and began to see positive results. However, I have seen that, due to a lack of financial expertise, none of my relatives or friends are investing in the stock market. When I looked into it further, I discovered that most people are afraid of stocks and feel they are especially unsafe. I wanted to debunk all of the stock market fallacies and show people the genuine possibilities of investing in stocks. That's when I came up with the idea for Trade Brains.

10. What’s your background? Did your grandmother have the problem you’re trying to solve? 

I’m an electric engineer from NIT Warangal and the founder of Trade Brains, an entrepreneur at heart who started his business while still in college. I had started an entertainment company with a classmate in his second year and went on to become a Manager at Tata Motors after graduation.

I was very interested in stock market investment throughout his time at Tata Motors. As a side venture, I started a financial education blog and website called Trade Brains in 2017 to teach individuals about the basics of the stock market.

The idea behind this was to educate people about the financial industry & stock market.

My grandmother had the financial illiteracy issue & yes that’s what I’m trying to solve.

11. Did you have the skills you needed to start the business?

I started the business as a side hustle and eventually gained traction. Simultaneously, I developed the skills with time.

12. Why is your team perfect to solve the problems you’re tackling?

We're a team of 30 individuals that work tirelessly to give the finest user experience and new features with each release. The team is extremely devoted and is working on a number of innovative projects that will benefit an increasing number of retail investors. We're working hard to develop Trade Brains a full-fledged stock market learning tool.

13. (If you’re a B2c startup) Who are some of your clients?

Our clients are basically Retail Investors & Beginners in the stock market.

14. Who are your main competitors?

Some of our main competitors are Money Control, Ticker Tape, Screener.

15. How much have you raised in total over how many rounds?

No, we haven’t raised any money yet.