Quaint research firm founded by two IIM-Ahmedabad alumni in Vizag eyes AUM of Rs.350 crore

Labh, a quaint research firm and a startup now housed in A Hub on Andhra University campus, has received a shot in the arm by getting recognition from SEBI and other market regulators.

Labh, founded by two IIM-Ahmedabad alumni,.has specialised in stocks and mutual funds and helping the retail investors after finding that 95% retail investors lose money in the market. "We are determined to change the same. We are one of the very few SEBI corporate research analysts in the State.

Our quant models are built by phd mathematicians and engineers who write algorithms that go through millions of data points and then pick the right funds for the end users," Ram Harsha, co-founder of the startup, told Bizz Buzz.

He said from a revenue of Rs.2.5 crore in 2025 they are expecting to achieve an AUM of Rs.350 crore in 2026 due to their growing demand. He said their recommendation based on market research by experts is helping them grow their volume of transactions manifold though their RoI is slow compared to other startups.

Harsha pointed out that Quant Research is a field where they use quantitative mathematics to find opportunities and assess risk in financial space.

This field was pioneered by Jimmy Simons from Renaissance Technologies and Medallion Fund. "If you ask anyone who a legendary investor is, words you will hear are probably Warren Buffet and.Charlie Munger from Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire Hathaway has averaged a 22% cagr (cumulative annual growth rate) - (The compounding rate of a principal over time period) through its lifetime."

He pointed out on the other hand renaissance technologies serve individuals with relatively small team sizes boasting 66% CAGR. The way quant teams work is they build systems that take in large amounts of data and convert them into usable signals and map them into cause and reason purely through

mathematics.

These systems are generalised and not subjective." For eg. Let's say in the war of India against Pakistan, a retail investor looking at the market data would quickly exit their positions fearing loss of money. Our quant models suggested going into specific segments of the market that have performed well during previous war conditions because it has historical knowledge of wars and price movements at that point of time. Our war basket positions have generated 12% in a week for our customers."

Harsha pointed out that Quant Research is a field where one uses quantitative mathematics to find opportunities and assess risk in financial space. In the United States, major hedge funds such as Renaissance Technologies and Two Sigma have built their reputations on quantitative research. Rather than relying solely on analyst opinions, these firms use mathematical models to study decades of market data, identify recurring patterns, and estimate the likelihood of future trends. Over 15 crore demat accounts are now active, digital access is widespread, and regulators are opening the way for more data-driven methods. Conditions are emerging for wider adoption of approaches long standard in the US.

Over the past five months, its flagship strategy has generated 15.72% returns, compared with 9.73% for the Nifty 50 index — though the company cautions that past performance is not a guarantee of future results, he stated.

According to Harsha, the underlying process is highly technical. Labh’s models draw on probability theory to estimate the likelihood of market events, statistical inference to interpret noisy financial data, and optimisation algorithms to select efficient portfolio structures. They are paired with computer science tools for large-scale data processing, machine learning for pattern recognition, and automated execution systems that can respond to market changes in real time.