Dhan Under The Spotlight, WazirX’s Reboot & More

Tracking Dhan’s Unicorn Journey

Just last week, stock broking platform Dhan entered the unicorn club. However, the timing couldn’t have been more counterintuitive – SEBI has been cracking down on F&O trading, investor participation is down, and rivals are seeing revenues plummet. So, what has been Dhan’s secret sauce?

The Secret Weapon: While competitors built their empires on F&O volumes, Dhan doubled down on margin trading, which brought in recurring interest income and created a product stack less vulnerable to regulatory whiplash. The strategy paid off. Dhan clocked INR 177 Cr profit in FY24 on a revenue of INR 380 Cr. It expects both figures to more than double in FY25. 

The Pro Trader Focus: Another aspect of Dhan’s playbook is its focus on seasoned traders, not mass-market investors. Its DEXT Engine executes over 95% of orders under 25 milliseconds, vital for high-frequency traders. AI tools like Fuzz provide verified financial insights, while ScanX offers real-time analytics. This focus helped Dhan climb from the 45th position among brokers in 2022 to the top 10 in 2025. 

Hedging The Bets: While its focus on pro traders has paid dividends, 80% of Dhan’s revenue comes from F&O trading, a segment heavily impacted by SEBI’s clampdown. Acknowledging a 40% dent in revenue post-regulation, the company is already building its hedge. Dhan plans to launch a standalone platform for long-term investing, targeting a younger demographic with mutual funds and other wealth products. 

This diversification is a clear move to de-risk its business model and build a more resilient revenue base for the future.

Nevertheless, with a clear strategy built on tech and diversification, can Dhan’s niche focus be enough to challenge the giants of the Indian brokerage industry in this new, more constrained investment tech era? Let’s find out… 

From The Editor’s Desk

? Motilal Oswal Trims Swiggy’s Price Target To INR 550

• Motilal Oswal trimmed Swiggy’s price target to INR 550 while keeping a ‘Buy’ rating, highlighting the company’s shift to profitability through operating discipline, network efficiency, and better unit economics across food delivery and Instamart.
• 2025 has been a transformative year for Swiggy under Sriharsha Majety, marked by new launches like ‘toing’ and ‘99 Store’, piloting apps like Crew, expanding Pyng, and strategic exits such as selling Rapido and spinning off Instamart. 
• With net losses peaking earlier this year, the company is now modulating investments for scale-led profitability, signalling that the worst of losses in quick commerce may be behind it.

? WazirX Gets A Green Light To Reboot 

• The Singapore High Court has approved WazirX’s creditor-backed restructuring plan, allowing the platform to resume operations within 10 business days and begin token distributions to affected users. Over 95% of creditors approved the revised plan in August 2025.
• WazirX suffered a $234 Mn cyberattack in July 2024, impacting 4.3 Mn users and nearly 45% of platform funds. Hackers linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group forced the startup to halt withdrawals, prompting a complex restructuring effort under its parent, Zettai Pte Ltd.
• The court’s sanction marks one of the fastest restructurings in global crypto, restoring hope for Indian crypto investors. 

? Livspace Trims Losses To Pave The IPO Path

• Livspace claims to have cut its FY25 net loss by 43% to INR 243 Cr, driven by a 23% revenue increase to INR 1,459 Cr, higher margins, and improved unit economics. 
• Founded in 2014, Livspace is an omnichannel home interiors platform blending marketplace, ecommerce, and service revenue streams. It is backed by marquee investors like KKR, TPG Growth, and Goldman Sachs.
• With operational losses (measured by EBITDA) shrinking toward 4–5% of revenue and a cash reserve of INR 708 Cr, Livspace claims to be IPO-ready and expanding aggressively.  

? Dezerv Levels Up Its Wealthtech Play

• Accelerating its evolution into a full-stack wealth manager, Dezerv has secured INR 350 Cr from Premji Invest and Accel’s Global Growth Fund. It plans to expand its investment solutions, onboard relationship managers, and strengthen its tech platform.
• Founded in 2021, Dezerv started as an invite-only wealth management platform and now serves over 5 Lakh Indian investors across 200+ cities, managing INR 14,000 Cr across PMS, AIF, and distribution assets. 
• The funding comes amid a wealthtech boom in India, with peers like Groww (acquiring Fisdom), PowerUp Money, and Scripbox attracting capital. Dezerv plans to add bonds, REITs, InvITs, loans, and credit cards by end-2025, positioning itself as a one-stop platform for personal and family finance.

? Justdial’s Profit Down Despite Revenue Rise

• Justdial reported a 23% YoY drop in Q2 FY26 profit to INR 119 Cr, despite a 6% rise in operating revenue to INR 303 Cr. PAT declined even as the company managed to improve EBITDA by 6.4% YoY. This signals rising costs and softer margins.
• Once India’s go-to hyperlocal search platform, Justdial has been realigning under Reliance’s ownership to stay relevant amid growing competition from Google Maps, local discovery apps, and voice-based search
• With traffic growth plateauing, down 0.2% YoY, and profits under pressure, Justdial is banking on AI-driven product upgrades and operational efficiency to revive growth.

Inc42 Markets

Inc42 Startup Spotlight

How Pascal Is Making Due Diligence Easy

In the high-stakes world of corporate finance, financial analysts spend countless hours manually sifting through documents, a process ripe for human error, delays, and critical oversights. Pascal AI is helping automate this with its agentic AI approach.

The AI Watchdog: Founded in 2024, Pascal’s AI agents automate everything, from research and data extraction to financial modelling and insight generation, to make investment decisions faster. Pascal’s AI agent can analyse financial documents, extracting key performance indicators and flagging potential red flags that could derail a major deal or investment.

The startup also claims to host comprehensive data on over 16,000 public companies across 27 global markets, providing the foundation necessary for robust diligence.

Making Early Strides: The startup already claims to deploy its AI agents in more than 25 financial firms across the US and the APAC region. Flush with a recent $3.1 Mn seed round from Kalaari Capital and Norwest Venture Partners, Pascal AI now aims to carve a niche in the global AI market, which is expected to breach the $3 Tn mark by 2033. 

Competing with giants like Bloomberg and CapIQ, can Pascal AI transform the very core of financial analysis?

Infographic Of The Day

In Q3 2025, Indian investors kept backing tech, from ecommerce to AI, showing startups remain a safe bet. So, where are investors placing their biggest bets?