Raise Financial Services Startup Diligence Report
Proceed only to confirmatory diligence. The public unicorn valuation ($1.20 billion) and product/customer/regulatory signals justify further review, but no transaction should rely on the public record without audited financials, customer references, cap table, control artifacts and counsel-led searches.
Raise Financial Services Startup Diligence Report
Raise Financial Services appears eligible for this run as an uncovered active private unicorn based on the CB Insights current unicorn list and active public company sources. Public evidence supports a real operating business and product footprint, but investability remains dominated by private financial quality, customer/revenue concentration, controls, legal/regulatory posture, cap-table economics and execution proof.
Regulated brokerage, depository, research, exchange, and grievance obligations create high compliance and operational-control risk.
Diligence request: Review SOC/audit reports, regulatory correspondence, incident logs, policies, control exceptions, DPAs, customer obligations and counsel memos.
Audited financials, active client counts, revenue quality, cap table, debt, and valuation bridge are not public.
Diligence request: Request audited financials, monthly ARR/bookings, gross margin, cash, burn, debt, cap table, financing documents, 409A/fair-value support and valuation bridge.
Active client counts, revenue concentration, churn, NPS and cohort durability are not public.
Diligence request: Request top-customer revenue schedule, renewal/churn cohorts, customer references, pipeline and concentration by segment/geography.
Brokerage pricing pressure and Indian retail-trading cyclicality may compress take rate and growth durability.
Diligence request: Request win/loss analysis, CAC/payback by channel, discounting, churn by competitor, and product usage depth.
Public product breadth does not prove defensibility, roadmap delivery, uptime, model/control quality, or implementation economics.
Diligence request: Review roadmap, release metrics, architecture, uptime/SLA, incident history, security design, IP assignments and engineering productivity.
Public sources do not provide a complete leadership roster, org chart, function-level headcount, compensation arrangements or turnover history.
Diligence request: Request org chart, employee census, executive agreements, board minutes, attrition data, recruiting plan and key-person retention analysis.
Public evidence verifies Raise Financial Services's CB Insights unicorn status and $1.20 billion valuation estimate, but audited financial statements, projections, cap table, cash, debt and valuation bridge are not public.
partially verified confidence: medium
Public-source diligence for I.A is summarized in attached exhibits; any undisclosed operating, legal, customer, HR or financial details are called out as follow-up requests.
| metric | public signal | diligence request | verification status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue / ARR | Not disclosed in reviewed public sources | Audited income statements, ARR bridge, bookings, renewals, churn and cohort revenue. | not_publicly_verifiable |
| Gross margin / unit economics | ₹0 account opening and zero AMC/platform fees | Gross margin by product, services costs, CAC, payback and support costs. | not_publicly_verifiable |
| Public pricing signal | Account opening / AMC / platform fees: ₹0 account opening and zero AMC/platform fees; Equity delivery / ETFs / IPO / mutual funds: Free / zero brokerage per Dhan pricing page; Intraday / MTF: ₹20 or 0.03% of trade value per executed order, whichever is lower; Equity and commodity F&O: ₹20 per executed order; Regulatory/statutory charges: SEBI turnover, STT, GST, exchange and DP charges passed through per schedule | Actual price book, discounting, contract terms and realized take rate. | partially_verified |
partially verified confidence: medium
Public-source diligence for I.B is summarized in attached exhibits; any undisclosed operating, legal, customer, HR or financial details are called out as follow-up requests.
partially verified confidence: medium
Public-source diligence for I.C is summarized in attached exhibits; any undisclosed operating, legal, customer, HR or financial details are called out as follow-up requests.
| stakeholder | public position | diligence caveat | verification status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raise Financial Services | Private unicorn in CB Insights list | Confirm legal entity, shareholder registry, board approvals and option pool. | partially_verified |
| Selected investors / backers | Not listed in CB row | Request cap table, investor rights, SAFEs/notes, warrants and liquidation preferences. | not_publicly_verifiable |
| Debt / bank lines | No public debt schedule found in reviewed sources | Request all debt instruments, covenants, liens and off-balance-sheet liabilities. | not_publicly_verifiable |
partially verified confidence: medium
Public-source diligence for I.D is summarized in attached exhibits; any undisclosed operating, legal, customer, HR or financial details are called out as follow-up requests.
| date | round or event | amount | valuation | lead or investors | verification status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-10-06 | CB Insights unicorn-list entry | Not disclosed in CB row | $1.20 billion | Not listed in CB row | verified from market database; financing documents required |
| Current public-source review | Active private-unicorn eligibility screen | Not applicable | $1.20 billion | Requires company confirmation | partially_verified |
Public company sources describe Raise Financial Services's product family; pricing, margins, adoption by SKU and roadmap execution require private evidence.
partially verified confidence: medium
Public-source diligence for II.A is summarized in attached exhibits; any undisclosed operating, legal, customer, HR or financial details are called out as follow-up requests.
| product | audience | key features | verification status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dhan | Retail traders and long-term investors in India | Trading and investing app/web with stock, F&O, ETFs, mutual funds, IPO, DhanHQ APIs, MTF and related tools | verified |
| Upsurge.club | Investor/trader education users | Education product to build trading and investing knowledge | verified |
| Filter Coffee | Business/market readers | New-age media delivering actionable business insights | verified |
| Fuzz AI | Finance research users | AI-powered financial research assistant | verified |
| Financing / Payment / Insurance | Future financial-service customers | Listed as coming-soon or stack themes on Raise homepage | partially_verified |
| item | public signal | verification status |
|---|---|---|
| Account opening / AMC / platform fees | ₹0 account opening and zero AMC/platform fees | verified |
| Equity delivery / ETFs / IPO / mutual funds | Free / zero brokerage per Dhan pricing page | verified |
| Intraday / MTF | ₹20 or 0.03% of trade value per executed order, whichever is lower | verified |
| Equity and commodity F&O | ₹20 per executed order | verified |
| Regulatory/statutory charges | SEBI turnover, STT, GST, exchange and DP charges passed through per schedule | verified |
Public sources provide customer/partner or segment signals, but top-customer revenue, concentration, churn and supplier economics are not publicly verifiable.
not publicly verifiable confidence: low
Public-source diligence for III.A is summarized in attached exhibits; any undisclosed operating, legal, customer, HR or financial details are called out as follow-up requests.
| customer or segment | application | public evidence | verification status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retail traders | Dhan app/web/Options Trader | Targeted by Dhan product positioning; customer count not public | partially_verified |
| Long-term investors | Dhan stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, IPOs | Targeted by Dhan product positioning; revenue per cohort not public | partially_verified |
| Financially aware users in metros and Tier 1/2 towns | Raise overall positioning | Stated target market on Raise homepage | verified |
| Dhan clients | Brokerage/depository accounts | Dhan states clients are registered under Raise Securities Private Limited; count not public | partially_verified |
not publicly verifiable confidence: low
Public-source diligence for III.B is summarized in attached exhibits; any undisclosed operating, legal, customer, HR or financial details are called out as follow-up requests.
| partner | nature | public evidence | verification status |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSE | Exchange membership | Dhan disclosure lists NSE membership no. 90133 | verified |
| BSE | Exchange membership | Dhan disclosure lists BSE membership no. 6593 | verified |
| MCX | Exchange membership | Dhan disclosure lists MCX membership no. 56320 | verified |
| CDSL | Depository participant | Dhan disclosure lists CDSL DP ID IN-DP-289-2016 | verified |
| BSE StarMF | Mutual fund order execution dependency | Dhan says it collects orders and places them on BSE StarMF for execution | verified |
partially verified confidence: medium
Public-source diligence for III.C is summarized in attached exhibits; any undisclosed operating, legal, customer, HR or financial details are called out as follow-up requests.
not publicly verifiable confidence: low
No reliable public evidence was found for the detailed checklist items in III.D; private records are required.
not publicly verifiable confidence: low
Public-source diligence for III.E is summarized in attached exhibits; any undisclosed operating, legal, customer, HR or financial details are called out as follow-up requests.
| supplier or dependency | role | public evidence | concentration risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSE / BSE / MCX / CDSL / BSE StarMF | Execution, exchange, depository and mutual-fund infrastructure | Dhan disclosures list exchange/depository memberships and BSE StarMF order routing. | Supplier contracts, redundancy and incident history are not public. |
| Private data-room request | Vendor/supplier schedule | No complete supplier spend or concentration schedule was public. | High until vendor spend, SLAs and termination rights are reviewed. |
The competitive landscape appears crowded with incumbents and specialist alternatives; public sources are insufficient for win/loss or pricing-power conclusions.
not publicly verifiable confidence: low
Public-source diligence for IV.A is summarized in attached exhibits; any undisclosed operating, legal, customer, HR or financial details are called out as follow-up requests.
| competitor | product overlap | differentiator or pressure | evidence basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zerodha | High overlap in Indian retail broking and pricing | Large incumbent scale | Analyst category screen; require win/loss and customer calls. |
| Groww | Overlap in retail investing, mutual funds, stocks | Consumer acquisition scale | Analyst category screen; require win/loss and customer calls. |
| Upstox | Overlap in stock/F&O trading | Low-cost brokerage positioning | Analyst category screen; require win/loss and customer calls. |
| Angel One | Overlap in broking, advisory, distribution | Public scale and regulatory maturity | Analyst category screen; require win/loss and customer calls. |
| INDmoney / smallcase | Overlap in wealth stack and research surfaces | Product bundling and ecosystem reach | Analyst category screen; require win/loss and customer calls. |
| axis |
|---|
| Product breadth |
| Pricing / take rate |
| Trust / compliance |
Public GTM evidence comes from company websites, customer stories, product pages and regulatory/product disclosures; pipeline, CAC, channel mix and sales productivity are private.
partially verified confidence: medium
Public-source diligence for V.A is summarized in attached exhibits; any undisclosed operating, legal, customer, HR or financial details are called out as follow-up requests.
| channel |
|---|
| Direct / demo-led sales |
| Partners / ecosystem |
| Owned content / resources |
not publicly verifiable confidence: low
No reliable public evidence was found for the detailed checklist items in V.B; private records are required.
not publicly verifiable confidence: low
Public-source diligence for V.C is summarized in attached exhibits; any undisclosed operating, legal, customer, HR or financial details are called out as follow-up requests.
| signal |
|---|
| Scale claim |
| Customer proof |
not publicly verifiable confidence: low
No reliable public evidence was found for the detailed checklist items in V.D; private records are required.
not publicly verifiable confidence: low
No reliable public evidence was found for the detailed checklist items in V.E; private records are required.
Public R&D evidence is limited to product and control claims; engineering organization, roadmap cost, delivery velocity and defensibility require data-room evidence.
not publicly verifiable confidence: low
Public-source diligence for VI.A is summarized in attached exhibits; any undisclosed operating, legal, customer, HR or financial details are called out as follow-up requests.
| signal |
|---|
| Product/engineering organization |
| Security/compliance engineering |
partially verified confidence: medium
Public-source diligence for VI.B is summarized in attached exhibits; any undisclosed operating, legal, customer, HR or financial details are called out as follow-up requests.
| project |
|---|
| Dhan |
| Upsurge.club |
| Filter Coffee |
| Fuzz AI |
| Financing / Payment / Insurance |
Management, headcount, compensation and turnover evidence is thin in public sources, with any public team-size signals requiring HR reconciliation.
not publicly verifiable confidence: low
Public-source diligence for VII.A is summarized in attached exhibits; any undisclosed operating, legal, customer, HR or financial details are called out as follow-up requests.
partially verified confidence: medium
Public-source diligence for VII.B is summarized in attached exhibits; any undisclosed operating, legal, customer, HR or financial details are called out as follow-up requests.
| function |
|---|
| Company-wide headcount |
| Product/engineering |
| Compliance / regulated operations |
partially verified confidence: medium
Public-source diligence for VII.C is summarized in attached exhibits; any undisclosed operating, legal, customer, HR or financial details are called out as follow-up requests.
| role or person |
|---|
| Senior leadership roster |
| Company positioning / team signal |
not publicly verifiable confidence: low
No reliable public evidence was found for the detailed checklist items in VII.D; private records are required.
not publicly verifiable confidence: low
No reliable public evidence was found for the detailed checklist items in VII.E; private records are required.
not publicly verifiable confidence: low
No reliable public evidence was found for the detailed checklist items in VII.F; private records are required.
not publicly verifiable confidence: low
Public-source diligence for VII.G is summarized in attached exhibits; any undisclosed operating, legal, customer, HR or financial details are called out as follow-up requests.
| category |
|---|
| Executive departures |
| Employee relations |
Public legal/regulatory evidence is limited to company disclosures and reviewed pages; counsel-led searches and control/regulatory artifacts are required.
partially verified confidence: medium
Public-source diligence for VIII.A is summarized in attached exhibits; any undisclosed operating, legal, customer, HR or financial details are called out as follow-up requests.
| case |
|---|
| No material pending lawsuit identified in the reviewed public-source packet |
| Customer/vendor/employment disputes |
not publicly verifiable confidence: low
Public-source diligence for VIII.B is summarized in attached exhibits; any undisclosed operating, legal, customer, HR or financial details are called out as follow-up requests.
| defendant or matter |
|---|
| No outbound litigation identified in reviewed public-source packet |
| Collections, IP, contract enforcement |
not publicly verifiable confidence: low
No reliable public evidence was found for the detailed checklist items in VIII.C; private records are required.
partially verified confidence: medium
Public-source diligence for VIII.D is summarized in attached exhibits; any undisclosed operating, legal, customer, HR or financial details are called out as follow-up requests.
| asset |
|---|
| Product brands and domains |
| SEBI/exchange/depository registrations |
not publicly verifiable confidence: low
No reliable public evidence was found for the detailed checklist items in VIII.E; private records are required.
not publicly verifiable confidence: low
No reliable public evidence was found for the detailed checklist items in VIII.F; private records are required.
partially verified confidence: medium
Public-source diligence for VIII.G is summarized in attached exhibits; any undisclosed operating, legal, customer, HR or financial details are called out as follow-up requests.
| agency or domain |
|---|
| SEBI / NSE / BSE / MCX / CDSL |
| Enforcement / complaints / inspections |
| ID | Claim | Status | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| EC-001 | CB Insights lists Raise Financial Services as an India/Maharashtra unicorn valued at $1.20B, joined 2025-10-06, in Enterprise Tech. | verified high | SRC-001 |
| EC-002 | Raise describes itself as building technology-led consumer products and infrastructure services for financial services in India, targeting financially aware users in metros and Tier 1/2 towns. | verified high | SRC-002 |
| EC-003 | Raise lists Dhan, Upsurge.club, Filter Coffee, and Fuzz AI as brands/products, with Dhan focused on trading/investing, Upsurge on education, Filter Coffee on business insights, and Fuzz as an AI-powered financial research assistant. | verified high | SRC-002 |
| EC-004 | Raise says it is a team of 550+ and hiring, and describes culture and values around speed, quality, ownership, and customer obsession. | partially verified medium | SRC-002SRC-003 |
| EC-005 | Dhan publishes pricing including zero account opening/AMC/platform fees, free equity delivery/ETFs/IPO/mutual funds, and ₹20 or 0.03% for intraday/MTF plus ₹20 per F&O order. | verified high | SRC-004 |
| EC-006 | Dhan/Raise Securities publishes SEBI stock broker, depository participant, research analyst, and exchange membership disclosures. | verified high | SRC-004 |
| EC-007 | Dhan discloses that DHAN is owned by Raise Securities Private Limited and that Dhan clients are registered under Raise Securities Private Limited. | verified high | SRC-004 |
| EC-008 | Raise has active company pages and CB Insights lists it as a current unicorn, but definitive IPO, acquisition, shutdown, shareholder, debt, and corporate-status checks require corporate records and counsel. | partially verified medium | SRC-001SRC-002SRC-999 |
| EC-009 | Raise does not publish audited financials, AUM/client counts, brokerage revenue, net revenue retention, regulatory correspondence, cap table, or debt schedules in the public source set reviewed. | not publicly verifiable high | SRC-999 |
| ID | Publisher | Title | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| SRC-001 | CB Insights | The Complete List Of Unicorn Companies | 2026-05-31 |
| SRC-002 | Raise | Raise - Building Technology led Financial Services for India | 2026-05-31 |
| SRC-003 | Raise | We're Building Raise - To Help you Invest and Build Wealth | 2026-05-31 |
| SRC-004 | Dhan | Pricing & Brokerage Charges | 2026-05-31 |
| SRC-005 | BSE India | BSE member-directory and exchange/depository disclosure context for Raise Securities Private Limited | 2026-05-31 |
| SRC-999 | Analyst workpaper | Public-source diligence scope and evidence-gap log | 2026-05-31 |
This report is a public-evidence diligence snapshot, not investment advice. Important financial, legal, technical, and contractual facts remain non-public and should be verified directly with management and primary documents before any investment decision.