Punch Seeks To Capitalise On Stock Trading With $7 Mn Funding

Stock trading platform Punch has raised seed funding of $7 Mn (INR 58.7 Cr) co-led by Stellaris Venture Partners, Susquehanna Asia VC, Prime Venture Partners and Innoven Capital.

The round, which is a mix of debt and equity, also saw participation of angel investors, including  CRED’s founder and CEO Kunal Shah, Ultrahuman cofounder Vatsal Singhal and Nazara’s founder and CEO Nitish Mittersain.

The startup plans to use the fresh funds for research and development, technology and product enhancement and talent acquisition.

ET was the first to report the development.

“We have raised $7 Mn in seed funding for our broking business! We’re building a safety-first trading platform to help young, first-time traders navigate the markets with confidence and caution,” Punch’s cofounder and CEO Amit Dhakad said in a LinkedIn post.

Founded in 2022 by Dhakad, Hiral Jain, Arshad Fahoum, and Ajit Dandekar, Punch is designed for first-time traders who aim to develop responsible trading behaviours through innovative and intuitive safety tools. 

“Our focus is on making responsible trading intuitive and part of the user experience. We want to help beginners who are engaging with the market, to do it confidently and cautiously,” Dhakad added.

Mayank Jain of Stellaris Venture Partners, said, “We see a massive market opportunity for Punch to simplify options trading for beginners and offer a controlled approach to trading. The team’s focus on intuitive design and built-in safety tools in its single-screen trading platform addresses a significant product gap in the market and demonstrates its customer-first approach.”

The startup aims to facilitate responsible trading behaviours, addressing the needs of this cohort through product innovations, such as intuitive safety tools and an easy-to-use single-screen user experience. 

Mumbai-based Punch is a registered brand and trading platform created by Market Pulse Securities—a SEBI-registered broker—that offers trading in index and stock options as well as direct stock trading.

The funding comes as the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) proposes stricter rules for trading individual stock derivatives to prevent market manipulation amid recent explosive growth in options trading.

“While SEBI is making strides in protecting retail traders, at Punch, we’re leveraging our expertise in product design and behavioural science to create intuitive safety tools and a simplified trading platform,” added Dhakad.

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