India’s financial world is crowded with ventures by young entrepreneurs in the wealth tech, co-lending of credit cards, retail and payment gateways space. But there are some that are not trendy or blazing. EquiTracers Wealth Advisors, with Founder Pooja Malik and Co-founder Neha Jain, stands out as a distinctive venture: An asset recovery firm that helps individuals and families recover their unclaimed investments.
It is one of the more prominent startups in the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) space, which specialises in tracking forgotten bank deposits, equity shares, dividends and other financial assets, tracing rightful heirs, and ensuring the recovery process is smooth and transparent.
In the years gone by, investors in capital markets have struggled with transfer delays of physical shares due to problems linked to loss of documents, signature mismatch, delay in updating addresses and name changes. It has resulted in numerous cases where families have not been able to secure refunds of shares, dividends or matured deposits and debentures.
Data from the IEPF Authority estimates that the total amount of unclaimed shares and dividends is ₹1.84 lakh crore. In India, any unclaimed dividend amount or shares for which dividends have not been paid or claimed for seven years will be transferred by the company to the IEPF. Investors can recover these funds by filing a claim with the IEPF Authority, but corporates have not been too proactive in helping individuals recover assets.
EquiTracers now has over 100-plus clients, mostly high net worth individuals and non-resident Indians. The company earned ₹50 lakh in revenues in FY25.
Income for the company is through fees, usually a percentage of the market value of shares recovered. EquiTracers does not charge fees until the amounts are fully recovered, Malik adds.
Malik focuses on client acquisition, while her partner Jain focuses on claims, documentation and fees. “We have been adding