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From small MP village to a strong IPO debut: Groww CEO Lalit Keshre's inspiring journey
Founded in 2016, Groww is one of the country’s largest retail brokerage firms backed by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
Billionbrains Garage Ventures, the parent firm of popular investment platform Groww, made a strong market debut on Wednesday. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Groww’s share price opened at ₹112 per share, and climbed to ₹124, well above its 100-rupee issue price in a $754 million IPO, according to news agency Reuters. On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the stock was listed at ₹114, up 14% from the issue price.
Groww share price ended listing day at ₹128.85 on NSE, a 28.85% premium to the IPO price of ₹100, and at ₹130.94 on BSE, a 30.94% premium.
Groww CEO Lalit Keshre's journey
The listing was widely celebrated online, with many highlighting the remarkable journey of Groww’s co-founder and CEO, Lalit Keshre, who rose from modest beginnings in rural India to lead one of the country’s most successful fintech platforms.
According to a post shared on X by user Sourav Dutta, Keshre was born in a small village called Lepa in Madhya Pradesh. With no English-medium school in the area, his parents sent him to live with his grandparents in Khargone, where one had just opened. Keshre later pursued engineering from IIT Bombay and began his career at Flipkart, before venturing out to build Groww in 2016.
“Today, his company has become the most profitable new-age startup in the country to go for an IPO,” Dutta wrote, noting that Groww is backed by major global investors, including the governments of Singapore, Norway, and Abu Dhabi, along with MIT and Goldman Sachs.
“For a lot of Indians, sometimes even a small stroke of luck can make all the difference,” Dutta added.
Social media reactions
The post quickly went viral online, with many users calling Keshre’s journey inspiring.
“Hard work meets opportunity.... and luck follows,” one user wrote. “Beautiful story and a powerful reminder. Luck alone doesn’t explain it all. What Lalit’s story really shows is how much difference awareness, access, and consistency can make. From a small MP village to building Groww it’s proof that talent is everywhere in India, but opportunity isn’t. When both meet, magic happens,” commented another.
“This is why we should never underestimate where someone starts. With opportunity and effort, anything is possible,” wrote a third user.
“Thats why i dont think place of birth matters anymore in this connected world. If one is talented, sky is the limit,” expressed one user.
(Also Read: Groww shares surge as much as 21% on debut for market cap of over ₹70,000 crore)
About Groww
Founded in 2016, Groww is the country’s largest retail brokerage backed by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. The company started as a mutual fund distribution platform (direct mutual funds) and quickly expanded into equities, IPOs, ETFs, digital gold, and derivatives (futures and options). Today, the firm has over 15 million active clients, according to its site.
