‘Groww’s time was 2016, today is deeptech’: Lalit Keshre on India’s next growth phase

According to fresh market updates, India’s next startup opportunity could come from deeptech, with more firms doing foundational technology work and a funding ecosystem beginning to emerge around them, Groww co-founder and CEO Lalit Keshre stated at the Moneycontrol Startup Conclave 2026 on Saturday.

“Groww’s time was 2016, today is deeptech,” Keshre stated during a session titled The Next Expansion Phase.

Keshre stated narratives around new sectors often move ahead of what is happening on the ground, but pointed to the work now being done by smaller firms as evidence of the activity building in deeptech.

“Narratives tend to go ahead of realities. A lot of small and mid caps are doing deeptech work,” he stated. “There are now a lot of deeptech startups we are seeing as well, alongside an ecosystem that can back them.”

Groww itself was founded in 2016, initially as a mutual fund investment platform, before expanding into stocks, exchange-traded funds, derivatives, credit and other financial products.

The firm went public in November 2025 through a Rs 6,632.3-crore initial public offering. Its shares listed on the BSE at around Rs 114, compared with an offering price of Rs 100.

“When we went public, our customers became our market participants,” Keshre stated. “Our lives are much better now.”

Groww had 23.5 million transacting users and Rs 3.75 lakh crore in customer assets as of September 25, 2026, as stated by the firm’s investor-relations website.

‘Primary duty is to serve customers’

Asked around the markets and stock prices, Keshre stated the firm remained focused on customers rather than short-term moves in its stock.

“We don’t think too much around stock prices. Your primary duty is to serve customers,” he stated.

Keshre additionally stated retail market participants had become more aware of the need to build wealth over longer periods despite swings in financial markets.

“The nature of markets is to go up and down. Overall, people are a lot more aware around how to build long-term wealth,” he stated. ‘The time for MDR had come’

Keshre additionally backed the introduction of merchant discount rate, or MDR, on a limited category of UPI transactions.

“The time had come,” he stated, adding that regulators were open to engaging with the industry and concerns were being addressed.

The government earlier this month introduced a 0.4% MDR on specified UPI merchant transactions above Rs 2,000 from October 15. Person-to-person transactions stay free, while around 96% of merchant transactions will keep attract no MDR under the revised framework, according to the finance ministry.

The fee is distributed among participants in the payments ecosystem, including banks and payment applications, rather than being collected by the government or NPCI, the finance ministry has stated.