Startup Funding or Social Welfare?!
Its raining discounts for online shoppers and cab riders as e-comm biz is wooing the indian shopper with big discounts. However, the scene on the startup street is glum especially after the recent fallout of snapdeal sale to flipkart and its subsequent layoff of 1000 employees out of the present 1200 (it was 9000 last summer). This contrast prompted some questions about startup funding and its economic value add to the nation. Funds - whopping $21bn (Rs.1.36 Lac crores) & counting.. Startup funding statistics ( http://trak.in/india-startup-funding-investment-2015/ ) reveals that India has received a total of $16bn from 2014-16 and additional $5bn just in Q1'2017. The top four supposedly unicorns - Flipkart, Snapdeal, Ola & PayTm have received about half of all this funding ($10.4bn). But none of these companies are making profit yet, infact they are so heavily loss-making, that without burning $20-50mn a month, they may not even be in business. This monthly "cash-b...