New educational and content initiatives at Zerodha

Educating traders and investors has been a core focus for us at Zerodha since day one. In 2024, we’ve ramped up these efforts with a variety of new initiatives, all aimed at helping people understand the markets and manage their money better. Our last update on content initiatives was in July, so we thought it was time for a new one.

As an aside, some people—perhaps jokingly—say, “Zerodha is a content company now.” But the truth is, we’ve been publishing educational content since the beginning. Z-Connect, the blog you’re reading right now, is one of the oldest finance blogs in India. Our archives are a treasure trove for anyone wanting to see how the Indian markets have evolved over the last decade.

The biggest change in recent years has been our shift toward video content, as it has become the preferred format for many. But fundamentally, nothing has changed. We used to post primarily in text, and now we’re focusing on video and audio. The mission remains the same: to educate Indians on investing, without any expectation in return. Between all our initiatives, you can pretty much learn everything about the markets, from the why to the what and the how.

With that in mind, here’s an update on all our new content initiatives since the last one.

Varsity

Zerodha Varsity is an expansive and in-depth collection of stock market and financial lessons aimed at creating financial awareness. It is free and openly accessible to everyone, making it one of the largest financial education resources on the web. While Varsity originally began as a text-based platform, it has since expanded into video format, and we’ve also launched several offline initiatives. Here’s a look at some of our latest efforts:

Personal Finance in Indian Sign Language

We’ve launched a personal finance playlist on YouTube in Indian Sign Language to promote financial literacy within the deaf and mute community.

Varsity Community Meetup

With our Varsity audience spread across the country, we felt it was time to engage offline. Our first meetup took place in Vizag in September, where we discussed trading, investing, and finance. We’re excited to expand this initiative to more cities soon.

Varsity Finance Quiz

To spark curiosity and foster an interest in finance among college students, we introduced the Varsity Finance Quiz in collaboration with Qshala. We’ve started with colleges in Bangalore and plan to bring it to Mumbai in January 2025.

Varsity Blog

Z-Connect hosts hundreds of blog posts on capital markets and business developments at Zerodha. The Zerodha Varsity section features informative and educational posts on topics ranging from personal finance to market analysis.

Social Outreach for Food Delivery Executives

In partnership with Svatah, we conducted a financial literacy workshop for food delivery executives. We plan to begin offline sessions in key cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, and Hyderabad before expanding online to reach a broader audience.

Basics of options on Varsity Live

As India’s first online “learn by doing” platform for financial education, Varsity Live allows you to learn by working through live case studies with instant feedback. We currently run three programs every week covering the basics of the Stock Market, Technical Analysis, and Fundamental Analysis. Recently, we launched the Basics of Options and will soon introduce the Basics of Personal Finance. The platform is completely free and open to everyone.

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Zero1 by Zerodha

With Zero1, we’re continuing to make finance fun, and we’re thrilled to announce two new channels: Zero1 Hindi and Zero1 Women.

We’re expanding by building new channels for different niches and audiences. These new additions are bringing us closer to making money conversations as natural as chatting about the weather is..
But before diving into details about the new channels, here’s a quick snapshot of the Zero1 journey so far:

• 11 months old
• 1.1 crore views
• 300k subscribers
• 35 million unique users—organically
• 4 new shows in development, partnering with hosts, production houses, and creative minds

Zero1 Women

Women and Money—a conversation long overdue. Introducing Zero1 Women, where we explore careers, money psychology, and more. We’re starting with Girl Boss, featuring Sahiba Bali, and we’ve already lined up 10 episodes. New episodes will drop every week, showcasing successful women—comedians, actors, directors, and business leaders—sharing their unique money stories. Check it out.

Zero1 Hindi

Language shouldn’t be a barrier to learning how to manage your money. That’s why we launched Zero1 Hindi—the same high-quality content, now available in Hindi.

Our goal is to reach every corner of the country, bringing engaging finance conversations to people in the language they’re most comfortable with. And we’re not stopping here—more languages are coming soon, so stay tuned. Check it out here.

Zero1 Network

’The algorithm gods’ favor content that is sensational and often misleading. Therefore creators are incentivised to publish such content. With the number of content pieces growing rapidly, the world that lies ahead may not have content we can genuinely trust.

So, we are building the Zero1 Network—where we support creators who are trying to create high-quality, in-depth content in finance, business, climate, career, and health. We bear their creation and logistical costs so they can focus on what they do best. Create high-quality, valuable content. Check it out.

New shows, hosts, and formats

We’re collaborating with 3-4 new hosts and have some exciting new shows in the pipeline—think podcasts, documentaries, and maybe even our very own web series. We’re teaming up with top talent, production houses, and creative minds from across the country to make it happen. If you’ve got a pitch, send it to [email protected] or message Pratik on LinkedIn.

U25 Summit at Campus enabled by Zerodha

We launched ‘The Summit at Campus’ with the good folks at Under25, to empower students across India. Our mission is to help students take control of their professional and personal growth, equipping them with the knowledge and tools they need for success, including financial literacy—an essential life skill that’s often overlooked in education.

Picture this: vibrant events filled with music, laughter, and talks by industry leaders, making learning accessible. In just the last quarter, we’ve hosted events at 12 colleges, reached 10,000+ students, distributed 7,300 books on #InvestInYOU, and engaged 11M+ digitally.

We’re just getting started, and we’re committed to expanding The Summit at Campus to reach even more students across India. At Zerodha, we believe in investing in oneself, not just financially but in building a strong foundation for a fulfilling life. We continue this mission, one summit at a time!

Here’s a glimpse of the summits that happened last quarter.

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Markets by Zerodha

We recently launched a new channel called Markets by Zerodha (in hindsight, maybe not the most exciting name 😛), with the aim of simplifying the latest market developments. Our first show, The Daily Brief, has quickly become one of India’s most popular daily podcasts and newsletters. The response has been incredible—far exceeding our expectations. In September, we introduced a Hindi version of the podcast, and we plan to expand into more languages soon.

One common suggestion from many of you was for a global version of The Daily Brief. So, we launched a new show called The World, Simplified. As the name suggests, the goal is to break down the biggest trends in global financial markets and the economy in a clear and straightforward way. We’re just two episodes in, and while it’s still a bit rough around the edges, we’re confident it will keep getting better 🙂

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Rainmatter

We continue to partner with brilliant founders across health, wealth, and sustainability through Rainmatter. Whenever we make an investment, we ask the founders to write about the journey that led them to startup. We are publishing insights about the sectors in which we are investing.

Check out all the latest posts here.

From scratch

In this podcast series, we talk to the founders across the ever-growing Rainmatter portfolio about their journeys, challenges, and more. You can check out all the conversations here.

The climate conversations

At Rainmatter, climate and sustainability are core investment focuses. We’ve invested in fascinating startups that are tackling major climate-related issues, such as developing alternatives to plastic and improving recycling processes.

The other side

On this podcast, Dilip, who heads Rainmatter Health, speaks to some remarkable individuals across domains about physical and mental health. Check out all the conversations here.