Nikhil Aggarwal’s journey into the world of finance and entrepreneurship began with a solid academic foundation. Armed with a degree in Economics and later an MBA in Finance, he developed a deep understanding of market dynamics and financial structures that would prove invaluable in his later ventures. His academic pursuits weren’t just about theoretical knowledge—they shaped his analytical approach to identifying market gaps and investment opportunities.
The Corporate Crucible: Building Expertise at Global Giants
Morgan Stanley: The Investment Banking Years
After completing his MBA, Nikhil joined Morgan Stanley, where he spent six transformative years as Vice President. This wasn’t just another corporate job—it was his training ground for understanding the intricacies of high-stakes finance. At Morgan Stanley, he advised some of India’s largest companies on mergers and acquisitions and capital raising, giving him front-row access to how major corporate deals are structured and executed.
These six years were crucial in developing his expertise in investment banking, where he learned to assess risk, evaluate opportunities, and structure complex financial transactions. The experience exposed him to the challenges that companies face in accessing capital and growing their businesses—insights that would later inform his entrepreneurial ventures.
HSBC India: Strategic Rebuilding
Following his tenure at Morgan Stanley, Nikhil took on another significant role as part of the core strategy team at HSBC India, focusing on rebuilding the bank’s mortgage portfolio. This experience was particularly valuable as it gave him hands-on experience in risk management and portfolio reconstruction. Working on mortgage portfolios taught him about asset-backed investments and the importance of underlying collateral—concepts that would become central to Grip Invest’s philosophy.
The Entrepreneurial Leap: Chalo and the Mobility Revolution
With over a decade of corporate experience under his belt, Nikhil made his first entrepreneurial move in 2016 by co-founding Chalo. This wasn’t a random pivot—it was a calculated move into solving real-world problems using technology. Chalo emerged as one of India’s largest mobility startups, focusing on building smarter solutions for public transit.
The success of Chalo demonstrated Nikhil’s ability to identify market gaps and build scalable solutions. More importantly, it gave him firsthand experience in building a startup from the ground up, understanding customer needs, and scaling operations. This experience would prove invaluable when he later ventured into the fintech space.
Lessons from the Mobility Sector
Running Chalo taught Nikhil crucial lessons about operational efficiency, technology scaling, and most importantly, how to balance rapid growth with maintaining quality service. These lessons would later influence how he approached building Grip Invest’s infrastructure and culture.
The Genesis of Grip Invest: Democratizing Alternative Investments
Identifying the Market Gap
In June 2020, drawing from his extensive experience in investment banking and his entrepreneurial learnings from Chalo, Nikhil launched Grip Invest alongside co-founders Vivek Gulati and Aashish Jindal. The timing was strategic—the pandemic had made people more conscious about diversifying their investments beyond traditional instruments.
Nikhil’s vision was clear: create an investment marketplace that would provide retail investors with options to co-invest and have partial ownership in physical assets that earn lease income. This wasn’t just about creating another investment platform; it was about democratizing access to asset classes that were previously available only to institutional investors.
The Philosophy Behind Grip
Aggarwal’s approach to fixed-income investing reflects his deep understanding of risk-return dynamics gained from his corporate years. As he explains, “While the primary motive in fixed-income investing is to minimize risk, many investors are also seeking relatively higher return instruments that are not widely explored.”
His strategic thinking is evident in how he quantifies opportunities: “An AA rated bond would be in the 9.5–10% range at best. But as soon as you get into an A category bond, you can get to 11.5% kind of yield. So, for just an incremental more risk, you are able to earn 150 basis points more return.” This nuanced understanding of risk-return profiles comes from his years of experience in investment banking and risk management.
The Numbers Tell the Story
As Grip Invest turns five, the numbers reflect not just growth, but sustained performance and deep investor trust:
-Total funds raised: $4.6 million in external funding
-Retail investor community: 150,000+ investors growing 35% month-on-month for 15 months
-Capital raised from retail investors: INR 165 crores
-Returns delivered: INR 32 crores with 0.0% defaults
-Geographic reach: Investors from 42 countries and 322 cities globally
-Repeat investment rate: 40% of investors reinvest
-Companies enabled: 70+ companies have accessed capital through Grip’s platform
One of Nikhil’s key achievements has been maintaining Grip’s culture during rapid expansion. In a fintech landscape crowded with burnouts, Grip has built one of India’s most methodical fintech platforms by balancing rapid team expansion with efforts to preserve a close-knit, collaborative culture.
This approach reflects Nikhil’s understanding that sustainable growth comes from building strong foundations rather than just chasing metrics. His experience at both large corporations and startups taught him that people and culture are as important as technology and processes.
Technology as the Backbone
Under Nikhil’s leadership, Grip’s growth has been anchored by a tech backbone that scaled with discipline and foresight. Rather than building for immediate needs, the team focused on creating systems that could handle future growth—a lesson learned from his experience scaling Chalo and understanding enterprise systems at Morgan Stanley and HSBC.
Beyond Traditional Boundaries
Over the past five years, Grip has helped shape India’s investment landscape by introducing retail investors to asset classes previously accessible only to institutional players. Nikhil’s vision of converting capex to opex for companies while providing new investment instruments to retail investors has created a unique win-win ecosystem.
As he notes, A-rated SDIs or PTCs can offer returns of more than 12%, providing what he describes as “significant return for the risk that has been taken.” This approach has opened up new avenues for both investors seeking better returns and companies needing capital for growth.
The World Bank Connection
Nikhil’s continued role as a Consultant to the Transport Practice of the World Bank demonstrates his thought leadership extends beyond Grip Invest. This position allows him to influence broader policy discussions while bringing global best practices to his entrepreneurial ventures.
The Road Ahead: Continuing the Mission
Grip’s mission, as articulated by Nikhil, is to “change the way Indians think about investing and facilitate wealth creation opportunities with healthy diversified portfolios.” This goes beyond just providing investment options—it’s about financial education and empowerment.
Sustained Performance Philosophy
What sets Nikhil apart is his focus on sustained performance over rapid growth. The 0.0% default rate on returns isn’t just a statistic—it’s a reflection of his methodical approach to risk management learned from his corporate years and refined through his entrepreneurial journey.
As Grip Invest enters its next phase of growth, Nikhil’s approach—methodical, disciplined, and deeply rooted in understanding both risk and opportunity—continues to set it apart in India’s crowded fintech landscape. His journey reflects not just personal success, but the evolution of India’s investment ecosystem toward greater accessibility and sophistication.
