In a startup ecosystem obsessed with pitch decks and revenue projections, Prateek Singh, the face of Zero1 by Zerodha, just dropped a bombshell that defies every rule in the venture capital handbook.
The LearnApp founder and CEO revealed that Zerodha billionaire Nithin Kamath handed him a ₹1.7 crore investment after explicitly rejecting his business idea, betting entirely on Singh’s potential rather than his product.
The revelation came during a candid interview on Finshots TV, where Singh detailed the “crazy” origin story of his ed-tech venture.
According to Singh, he approached the Zerodha founder in 2018 with what he now describes as the world’s worst deck, a pitch to stream classes for Chartered Accountancy (CA) students. Kamath’s reaction was immediate and blunt: “Don’t build this business. I don’t think it will work.“
But what happened next highlights the unconventional philosophy that has made Zerodha a titan in the Indian fintech space.
Instead of showing Singh the door, Kamath offered a lifeline that most aspiring creators only dream of. “Here is ₹1.7 crore rupees that I am betting on you,” Singh recalled Kamath saying. “Whatever you build, I have already backed.“
This capital didn’t go into the failed CA idea. Instead, it fueled the creation of LearnApp, a platform often dubbed the Netflix of Financial Education, which uses cinema-quality production to teach trading and investing. Singh admits that the money hit his account before the concept of LearnApp was even fully formed.
Pivoting Through Crisis
The journey wasn’t a straight line to success. Singh opened up about the brutal reality of the post-COVID ed-tech crash. While LearnApp started strong, the skyrocketing Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC) in a saturated market eventually made the direct-to-consumer (B2C) model unsustainable.
“We went bankrupt three times… it was very scary,” Singh admitted, referencing the mental toll and “anxiety pills” that accompanied the downtime.
The solution came from another pivot within the Zerodha ecosystem. LearnApp shifted focus to a Business-to-Business (B2B) model, powering Varsity Live, Zerodha’s interactive learning initiative.
This move leveraged LearnApp’s production prowess without the bleeding costs of acquiring users, eventually securing over 2.3 lakh registrations.
The Zero1 Media Network
Today, Singh is spearheading a new chapter with the Zero1 Network, a media joint venture between LearnApp and Zerodha.
Unlike traditional influencer channels that chase views for sponsorship revenue, Zero1 operates on a unique mandate: strict data-backed storytelling with zero advertisements.
The network aims to “demystify money” for the next generation of Indians, free from the conflict of interest that plagues ad-supported creators.
