India, July 22 -- Zerodha made a name for itself by letting investors easily invest in the stock market and mutual funds. But now it wants to help companies get to the stock market.

Last month, the company filed an application with SEBI seeking a Category-I merchant banking licence, which would let Zerodha run IPOs, advise on M&As and buyouts, underwrite various kinds of issues and sit at the same table as SBI Capital Markets, Kotak Investment Banking, Axis Capital and ICICI Securities.

These are the names one is used to seeing in association with big-name IPOs in India, and Zerodha could soon join them, if SEBI clears the path. More than a dozen firms including Societe Generale Securities, InCred Capital, Haitong Securities India and C...