Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath announced plans to enter the media space by building a new social media platform rather than a traditional news outlet. Speaking in conversation with NDTV Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal at the NDTV World Summit 2026 on October 22, 2026, Kamath confirmed ongoing experiments with different app concepts.
Explaining the strategic vision behind the move, Kamath pointed to global fragmentation as a primary driver. Observing how China operates its own dedicated ecosystem for social media, e-commerce, and quick commerce, the entrepreneur suggested India could eventually move toward domestic alternatives for American tech platforms.
"With media we do have aspirations but I don’t think it’s covering the news kind of media. I think the aspiration is to build social media, a new version of it, and we’ve been experimenting with different apps," Nikhil Kamath said.
Kamath emphasized that any upcoming platform would ideally transcend national borders rather than remaining restricted solely to India. Building a homegrown social network remains a formidable challenge in the market, demonstrated by previous domestic attempts like the Koo app, which peaked at significant user numbers before shutting down in July 2024.
As Kamath pivots toward new digital horizons, financial technology stakeholders continue to watch closely. Known for co-founding Zerodha in August 2010 alongside his brother to eliminate trading barriers through disruptive pricing and in-house technology, Kamath transformed the venture into India’s largest stock broker with over 1.8 crore clients. Observers are now tracking whether his upcoming technology experiments can replicate that scale in the social media arena.
While the summit discussions centered largely on national technological independence, technology sector watchers across Telangana and other southern Indian innovation hubs are keenly observing how domestic platform experiments will tackle infrastructural and regulatory hurdles moving forward.
TL;DR
- Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath announced plans to build a new social media platform at the NDTV World Summit 2026.
- Kamath clarified that his media aspirations exclude traditional news coverage, focusing instead on experimental app concepts.
- He cited China’s fragmented market and domestic ecosystem as a potential model for India’s digital future.
- The entrepreneur aims to build a homegrown platform designed to travel outside of India internationally.
- Previous local efforts, such as the Koo app, previously operated before shutting down in July 2024.
