MAM
“Shoonya is at the forefront of a revolution in the Indian trading landscape”: Shoonya by Finvasia’s Sarvjeet Virk
Mumbai: Shoonya by Finvasia is India’s leading multi-asset trading platform, co-founded in 2013 by brothers – Sarvjeet Virk (MD) and Tajinder Virk (CEO), also ex-Wall Street professionals. The vision behind Shoonya is to empower Indian traders and investors by enabling them to make smart financial decisions and achieve investment goals through an innovative and user-friendly trading platform. Finvasia is a regulated financial institution that provides a secure, reliable and credible trading platform for its customers.
Sarvjeet, along with his brother Tajinder Virk, has established an ecosystem which is disrupting the financial sectors globally. He had the vision to offer innovative and real-time end-to-end financial solutions that cater to the needs of all investors, regardless of their experience level. Thus, Shoonya was set up with the aim to make investing accessible and affordable for everyone through the Zero Commission model, a customer-first approach to investing and an innovative multi-asset platform that offers cutting-edge tools and advanced compatibility features.
Indiantelevision.com caught up with Sarvjeet Virk in an email interaction, where he shares additional insights on the company.
Edited excerpts
On Shoonya claiming to be a ‘True Zero Trading Platform’
Shoonya is at the forefront of a revolution in the Indian trading landscape. Since its inception, we have focused on providing traders with affordable trading solutions that democratize trading and encourage more people to become traders. From process innovation offered through our Zero Commission model to AI-led technological innovation, Shoonya has disrupted the trading community in India and created a positive impact for the investors at large.
Our Zero-Commission model not only sets us apart from the competition but also makes us a ‘true zero trading’ platform. We brought process innovation to the Indian trading landscape with the Zero-Commission model with 16 zero charges, eliminating brokerage fees, clearing charges, and hidden costs. We have made investing accessible and affordable for every individual, irrespective of their investment size or experience level. This disruptive approach has not only attracted a vast user base but also empowered countless investors to participate in the financial markets confidently, democratizing trading like never before.
On the other hand, we have led technological innovation with the industry-first AI-powered analytic tool that enables our customers to anticipate market movements, make well-informed decisions, and optimize their portfolio performance. It utilizes AI and machine learning to analyze extensive credible data of up to 1500 Indian scrips, providing predictive analysis and colour-coded signals for traders across many time horizons. It helps traders manage their risks and exposures, understand market volatility and optimize risk-reward ratios for robust strategies and save valuable time on research.
On the I Know First association enhancing the decision-making capabilities of traders
At Shoonya, we aim to empower traders with an innovative and user-friendly trading platform that enables them to make informed decisions and achieve their investment goals. Taking this vision forward, we partnered with I Know First, a globally-renowned AI-powered market analytics platform. With this partnership, we have introduced the country’s first AI-based feature to predict market movements and signals for different stocks.
The AI-powered platform provides analytics for up to 1500 Indian scrips, which includes stocks and indices from NSE and BSE. Our customers get the benefit of an AI-powered analytics view for all types of capitalization ranging from small to mid to large, helping them decide whether to hold, create or exit positions. The cutting-edge tool enables users to make informed decisions and optimize their portfolios.
On the customer responding to IKF and AI-driven trades showing an uptick on the platform
I Know First seems to be slowly but surely gathering attention by the platform users. AI model analysis is done on market indices to give wider perspective to our clients.
I Know First brings powerful AI based deep learning technology to the Indian traders. The Predictive Algorithm’s ability to identify the best opportunities and stock picks on a daily basis using extensive data research and analysis is unparalleled. The I Know First AI algorithm is being trusted by the world’s leading hedge funds, investment houses, banks, family offices, brokerage firms as well as high-net-worth individuals, allowing them to gain a competitive edge. This is a powerful feature for every Indian trader and it goes beyond the traditional advisory methods. We are confident that I Know First’s cutting-edge technology combined with Shoonya’s customer-centric approach will revolutionize the investment strategies of Indian traders. I Know First presents users with colour-coded Signals that enable easy interpretation of market movements and quick trading decisions. The dark green (BUY) and red (SALE) signals indicate strong market trends, while the light green and red signals represent weaker signals. I Know First’s Instant Heat maps is a predictive algorithm that allows you to generate instant heat maps for stock market forecasts across different time horizons of 3Ddays, 7Days, 14Days, 1Month, 3Months, and 1Year periods.
Furthermore, Shoonya’s clients can even analyze their existing holdings and make smarter decisions to rebalance portfolio based on investment strategies.
Uptick:
This feature was rolled out specifically for the users of the web version, and they are currently undergoing a free version. As a result of which the users are sampling the product. Given the positive adoption of the web users, we expect an uptick on the app version of I Know First.
On the market potential Shoonya is targeting and any aims for projections for 2024
As of July 2023, India has an astounding 123.50 million Demat account holders, which is our target audience. We are targeting everyone from newcomers and passive investors to active traders, intra-day traders and long-term investors. Our Zero Commission model, along with our customer-first approach, is making investing accessible to everyone, empowering them to participate in the financial markets confidently.
We see some level of saturation in the metro cities with regard to opening of Demat accounts and rightly so, because the entire fintech world is targeting the same population. We see tier 2, 3 and 4 cities as our target markets and mostly in our opinion the next wave of growth of demat accounts will come from here. These markets also serve as hotbed for fulfilling India’s financial inclusion goals.
Specific to the Company goal, we’re aiming to be among the top 10 brokers in the next 18 months based on the number of active clients.
On Shoonya breaking stereotypes in the broking industry in India
By design Shoonya was envisaged as a 0 brokerage business. The highest value of such a 0 brokerage model is derived by people who trade very frequently, which would encompass intraday traders & F&O traders. Given that our focus is on this segment, as mentioned earlier we’ve introduced I Know First feature to empower data based decision making, by unlocking the power of AI & ML. Further, we will soon be introducing the Account Aggregator onboarding module, where clients can share their declared accounts, with us for a seamless onboarding process. The earlier bottleneck where clients had to manually submit 6 monthly bank statements, will be eliminated and the onboarding process will be digitized.
On the company revenue for FY 23
Year end 2023, Shoonya witnessed a YoY growth of 150%. The year 2023-2024’s expected growth pattern is even better than that of the previous year based on Q1. The upswing is a resultant of better growth led by acquisitions and surge in account openings along with trading volumes till date. We anticipate high revenue as we continue to focus more on new product and features for clients.
On the active user base currently and key insights witnessed on the app
Currently our active user base is close to 1,50,000 users. Interestingly, we’ve seen an over 300% rise in customers in the age group of 0-24, in Q1 2023-24 compared to Q1 2022-23. Similarly, there is an over 200% rise in the age groups of 25-34 & 35-44 respectively, in the same period.
MAM
India’s financial sector spent less on TV ads in 2025 but flooded the internet
Banks, insurers and lenders cut tv ads as digital jumps, LIC and Muthoot lead tv and Axis Bank tops online
MUMBAI: India’s banking, financial services and insurance sector, one of the most prolific advertisers in the country, delivered a split verdict on media in 2025. It spent less on television, held its nerve in print, turned up the volume on radio and deluged the internet with a ferocity that left every other medium looking pedestrian. The picture that emerges from TAM AdEx’s cross-media report for the BFSI sector is of an industry in transition, still wedded to the news bulletin but increasingly seduced by the algorithm.
Television: a retreat with caveats
TV ad volumes for the BFSI sector fell 16 per cent in 2025 compared with 2024, a sharp reversal after two years of consistent growth that had pushed volumes 16 per cent above 2021 levels by 2023 and a further 7 per cent higher by 2024. Within 2025 itself, the drop was concentrated in the middle of the year: the second and third quarters saw ad volumes slide 35 per cent each against the first quarter, with a partial recovery of 13 per cent in the fourth.
The retreat did not reshuffle the deck. Life insurance retained first place among TV categories with 19 per cent of ad volumes, mortgage loans held second with 16 per cent, and the top ten categories together accounted for 82 per cent of all BFSI television advertising. The dominance of news channels was equally pronounced: news claimed 68 per cent of ad volumes, general entertainment channels a distant 14 per cent and movies 12 per cent. Together, news and GEC captured 82 per cent of the sector’s television spend. News bulletins alone took 48 per cent of programme-genre volumes, with feature films second at 12 per cent. Prime time, between 6pm and 11pm, drew 34 per cent of ad volumes, followed by afternoon at 22 per cent and morning at 20 per cent. A full 82 per cent of all ads ran between 20 and 40 seconds.
Life Insurance Corporation of India was the sector’s biggest TV spender with 11 per cent of ad volumes. Muthoot Financial Enterprises came second with 9 per cent, followed by National Payments Corporation of India at 6 per cent, Tata AIG General Insurance at 5 per cent and State Bank of India at 5 per cent. The top ten advertisers together accounted for 51 per cent of total TV volumes. Three names were new to the top ten in 2025: Tata AIG General Insurance, IIFL Finance and Tata Capital. At brand level, Muthoot Finance Loan Against Gold led with 9 per cent share, Tata AIG Health Insurance entered the top ten for the first time, and the top ten brands together contributed 35 per cent of ad volumes.
Print: the long climb continues
Print told a different story. Ad space for the BFSI sector has grown every year since 2021, rising 16 per cent in 2022, 30 per cent in 2023, 51 per cent in 2024 and 64 per cent in 2025, all measured against a 2021 baseline. Within 2025, ad space was flat in the second quarter but surged 46 per cent in the third and 33 per cent in the fourth compared with the first. Life insurance led print categories with 21 per cent of ad space, followed by mutual funds and banking services and products at 13 per cent each, and corporate financial institutes at 11 per cent. The top ten categories together took 82 per cent of print ad space. LIC led print advertisers with 6 per cent share, and the top ten together covered just 19 per cent of ad space, a reflection of how fragmented print spending remains. Three new entrants joined the top ten in 2025, with Billion Brains Garage Ventures the only exclusive presence not seen in 2024’s list. In the top ten brands, LIC dominated with a 2 per cent share, while Nippon India Mutual Fund rose to third position from fourth in 2024. English accounted for 62 per cent of print ad space, Hindi for 20 per cent. Business and finance publications took 59 per cent of the genre split. The south zone led regional spending with 33 per cent of print ad space, Bangalore topping that zone, while New Delhi and Mumbai were the leading cities nationally.
Radio: louder than ever
Radio ad volumes for the BFSI sector have climbed steadily, rising 12 per cent above 2021 levels in 2023, 36 per cent in 2024 and 45 per cent in 2025. The quarterly pattern within 2025 was volatile: a sharp drop of 43 per cent in the second quarter and 42 per cent in the third, followed by a near-full recovery in the fourth. Life insurance led radio categories with 22 per cent of volumes, banking services and products second at 14 per cent and corporate NBFCs third at 11 per cent. LIC of India held its position as the leading radio advertiser with 20 per cent of ad volumes; the top ten radio advertisers together covered 69 per cent. Muthoot Financial Enterprises led radio brands with 10 per cent share, five of the top ten brands belonged to LIC alone, and SBI Mutual Fund made a remarkable leap to fifth position from 272nd in 2024. Evening and morning time-bands together captured 84 per cent of radio ad volumes, with evenings at 44 per cent and mornings at 40 per cent. Maharashtra was the leading state for radio BFSI advertising with 18 per cent share; Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh together accounted for 43 per cent.
Digital: the five-times surge
If one number defines the 2025 BFSI advertising story, it is five. Digital ad impressions for the sector multiplied fivefold between 2021 and 2025, having already doubled in 2023 and doubled again in 2024 before the 2025 leap. Within the year, impressions dipped 19 per cent in the second quarter and 12 per cent in the third before recovering 8 per cent above the first quarter by the fourth. Banking services and products led digital categories with 27 per cent of impressions, life insurance and credit cards tied at 19 per cent each, and securities and sharebroking organisations fell from first place in 2024 to fourth in 2025. Axis Bank was the runaway leader among digital advertisers with 12 per cent of impressions, followed by ICICI Bank at 9 per cent, IDFC First Bank at 7 per cent and Kotak Mahindra Bank at 6 per cent. The top ten digital advertisers covered 59 per cent of impressions, and seven of them were new entrants compared with 2024, signalling rapid churn in the digital spending hierarchy. At brand level, Axis Bank led with 9 per cent, ICICI HPCL Super Saver Credit Card vaulted to third place from 921st in 2024, and six of the top ten digital brands were new to the list. Programmatic buying accounted for 91 per cent of all digital BFSI transactions; combined with ad networks, it captured 96 per cent.
The data from TAM AdEx paints the portrait of a sector that still believes in the power of the television news bulletin to sell insurance to the masses, but increasingly knows that the next generation of borrowers, investors and cardholders is scrolling, not watching. The race is now on to reach them before the algorithm serves up someone else’s loan offer first.
