End of story: Zerodha shuts Zero1 initiative for creators amid regulatory uncertainty

Discount brokerage Zerodha has shut down its media initiative, Zero1 Network, citing the regulatory uncertainty around financial influencers, popularly referred to as finfluencers.

Launched on October 24, 2023, the initiative brought together social media-focused content creators such as Varun Mayya, Achina Sirohi Mayya, Loveena Kamath and others. Zerodha started Zero1 with financial literacy startup Learnapp, to promote financial literacy through viral content created by popular social media personalities.

Responding to ET’s queries, a Zerodha spokesperson confirmed the development. “There was a lot of regulatory uncertainty around the entire initiative and we took a call to wind this down,” the spokesperson said. “Our new strategy is simple, to run and own all the channels in-house. We will continue to expand these channels, the only difference is that we will have full control on the content that is put out.”


Sebi crackdown

Zero1 operated as a platform where content creators told stories around finance, health and climate. But regulatory actions since the beginning of 2025 cast a cloud over its future. Last year, on January 29, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) introduced new rules prohibiting unlicensed financial influencers from offering any kind of financial advice. It also prohibited regulated entities from having any direct engagements with such influencers. In addition, it restricted the use of live stock market data in educational content, which the regulator felt could be used to influence stock traders under the garb of financial literacy.

Last month, the market regulator also directed Google to deploy artificial intelligence tools to identify finfluencers attempting to bypass existing norms.

More than 1.3 lakh such posts have already been flagged for takedown. In parallel, the regulator has identified and facilitated the removal of around 66 fraudulent trading applications from app stores, ET reported on March 26.

The development was first reported by Moneycontrol.

Learnapp, a Zerodha-funded startup established in 2018, will continue to build Zero1 and other Zerodha-owned properties as part of its broader financial literacy initiatives, the company said.

Currently, the financial literacy platforms run by Zerodha include Varsity on YouTube and Instagram, and Varsity Hindi.

Zerodha is the second-largest stockbroker in the country, with around 6.8 million active traders. The company reported Rs 8,847 crore in revenue in FY25 and a net profit of Rs 4,237 crore.