This startup lets you trade in stocks without risk of losing real money

‘Once bitten twice shy’ is an adage that is said by many stock market investors, especially those who have burnt their fingers trying to make a quick buck. Such investors are not only wary about re-entering the markets, but they also try to stop other potential investors from looking at equities or even mutual funds as an investment avenue.

This assumes significance as the last few months have seen many first-time investors entering the markets. For such investors, a platform has been created where they can hone their trading skills and learn the basics of stock market investment without worrying of losing real money.

Neostox, a start-up that was formally launched less than a year ago in October 2020, has already seen registrations in excess of 1.75 lakh with more than 60% of the registered individuals trading actively. The traction has only increased in the recent past with the venture registering thousands of new client additions on a daily basis.

So, what exactly does Neostox do that is attracting so many investors to its platform? The start-up is a real-time trading simulation platform that lets its users trade in the securities market with virtual money. One can register on the website and immediately get virtual cash worth ₹10 lakh, which can be topped-up up to ₹1 crore.

Simply put, an individual can trade in the stock market, which is live in terms of stock price movements, indices and buy/sell transactions, but there is no fear of losing real money. “It is a simulation platform and just like any good simulator, it replicates the real market on a real-time basis,” said Rajesh Dua, one of the three co-founders of Neostox.

“There are millions of people in the country who want to trade but are scared of the losses or just don’t know how to trade. Our platform is aimed at all such people who can come, practice, gain confidence and then trade in the market with real money,” added Dua. It all started when the co-founders were looking for a simulation platform for themselves but couldn’t find any. Nearly three years went into creating the first version of the platform, which was formally launched in October last year.

“It was a big learning exercise for us as well as we wanted to replicate the real market or else the platform would have been futile. Trading on Neostox is exactly like trading in the real market. The feed is real-time from NSE. We even levy charges like brokerage, exchange fee and taxes etc in all the transactions so that the user knows the overheads of the real market,” said Dua.

Incidentally, the order page on the simulation platform resembles that of any broking firm. One can put in a market or limit order, include a stop loss and also choose between intra-day or delivery option. The platform also offers trading facility in equity derivatives wherein the order page displays the lot size value and the margin requirement along with a few other parameters. There are also tools to analyse trends in the derivatives and cash segments while also offering a few specific tools for strategy-based trading in futures and options.   Users can also view their active positions, pending orders and the day’s history as well with each order displaying details regarding price, quantity, target and stop loss price, if any, along with the unrealised profit or loss and the applicable fees/taxes. Meanwhile, the venture is planning to soon launch its Version 2.0 of the platform, which will offer more features including back-testing mechanism and advanced analytics.