Before entering a new year, almost everyone craves to have a new year resolution and having a startup always tops the list. We started 2024 on a quite synchronous moment, where the first day of the year was Monday, the most hated day by every employee throughout the world. Some of us had the luxury of having a new year’s day off, while most of us were struggling to get over the hangover and join the rat race.
Nowadays, everyone is aware of the startup phenomena and what it costs to have one, thanks to the people who left their jobs and made successful careers out of startups. But, it is always dangerous to follow someone’s path, be it on the road or while taking a leap of faith with a startup. The success ratio of Indian startups is way below that of the USA, a place known to be a home for the highest number of startups.
The startup culture kicked off in India when the government launched the “Make in India” campaign in 2014. The motto was to build a strong ecosystem for people, and it skyrocketed in a short span, thanks to the tech-savvy youth, an expanding middle class and a favourable landscape. However, the rate of success remained a concern, as 80% of startups in India failed within 5 years, and only 33% of startups survived 10 years of operation.
Anar
Nishank Jain and Sanjay Bhat founded Anar in 2020, a dynamic hub for small and medium enterprises akin to LinkedIn for the business world. The startup united manufacturers and retailers seamlessly, fostering robust online connections. Fast forward to November 2023, Anar’s CEO and co-founder, Nishank Jain, announced the platform would gracefully bow out, and return capital to investors. Nishank Jain, acknowledging Anar’s challenges, now contemplates an AI venture, poised to tackle society’s monumental quandaries head-on.
Akudo
Akudo, the avant-garde neo-banking platform tailored for teenagers, bid adieu in the Dec 2023. The platform was launched by the innovative trio Lavika Aggarwal, Sajal Khanna, and Jagveer Gandhi in 2020 and revolutionised the landscape by offering personalised prepaid debit cards for teens, empowering parents with control. The startup ceased the business due to a directive from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), curtailing the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in co-branding alliances.
Quizy
Launched in 2021 by visionaries Amit Kumar and Sachin Yadav, Quizy emerged as a captivating real money gaming haven, seamlessly blending entertainment with educational flair. Offering a gamified learning experience, Quizy enlisted experts to craft academic content like assignments, essays, and book reviews. However, the vibrant journey met an unexpected crossroads in August 2023.
Co-founder Sachin Yadav lamented the impact of the sudden GST surge, citing a 30% flat TDS on winnings, which dealt a blow to earnings, eroding engagement and loyalty. Quizy’s closure marked the end of a chapter, with founders Kumar and Yadav charting new territories as assistant vice presidents at the lending tech platform BASIC Home Loan.
Pillow
Pillow, the colossal crypto investment platform, dominated headlines as the most funded startup to shut down in 2023. Citing ‘difficult regulatory headwinds’ and an inhospitable business terrain, Pillow found sustaining operations ‘impossible.’ The July closure saw a remarkable 80% of raised capital returned to investors, a bittersweet resolution.
A mere nine months post a staggering $18 Mn funding surge in 2022 from giants like Accel and Quona Capital, Pillow succumbed to the shifting tides. Founded in 2021 by Arindam Roy, Rajath KM, and Kartik Mishra, Pillow once empowered users to invest in stablecoins and cryptocurrencies, yet the industry’s golden era dimmed under the weight of government regulations and tax impositions.
Tiki
Battling lower retention rates and facing formidable competition from global social media bosses, Tiki chose an exit strategy. The shutdown announcement included a poignant note: all user data in India and Singapore would be expunged from servers. Incubated by Peak XV Surge, Tiki’s impactful journey, marked by a $3.63 million funding, etched a brief but impactful chapter in the dynamic world of short video platforms.
WeTrade
Bengaluru’s crypto trailblazer, WeTrade, surrendered due to the harsh realities of uncertainty in the crypto market. Founded in 2022 by Prashant Kumar, with a mission to simplify and enrich cryptocurrency trading, WeTrade faced the deepening chill of the crypto winter and an increasingly adversarial climate, prompting the decision to pause operations.
WeTrade offered zero trading fees and enabled crypto investment with a modest amount of ₹100. Despite raising over ₹15 Cr from external backers, WeTrade’s narrative shifted and led to the unfortunate departure of its employees. Prashant Kumar has since embarked on a new journey, spearheading his fintech creation, Kredit.Pe, as founder and CEO.
Belora Cosmetics
Belora Cosmetics, used to sell vegan and toxin-free makeup and skincare products, envisioned a grand public expansion in September 2022, forecasting an impressive ₹500 crores ARR within three to four years. However, the tale takes a twist by October 2023, painting a stark reality as reports echo the demise of this once-thriving beauty empire.
With funding streams evaporated, Belora’s digital presence crumbled within a month – a ghost town of a website, silent Instagram and dead Facebook. Founded in 2019 by Ainara Kaur and Akaljyot Kaur, Belora’s eco-friendly allure had seduced investors before, but now, it stands as a poignant reminder of the capricious startup landscape.
ZestMoney
ZestMoney was conceived in 2015 by Lizzie Chapman, Priya Sharma, and Ashish Anantharaman and emerged as a revolutionary BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) fintech, transforming the landscape of EMI payments. With a pinnacle valuation of $445 million, the saga took a sombre turn in December 2023 as ZestMoney bid farewell to its operations. The unravelling began in June 2022 when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rewrote the narrative for BNPL companies. May 2023 saw the founders stepping away, disheartened by unfruitful acquisition talks with PhonePe.
Fantok
Founded in 2022 by Ronak Ahuja, Prakhar Saxena, and Ashok Vishwakarma, the trailblazing real-money gaming startup Fantok decided to surrender due to the wake of the GST Council imposing a hefty 28% Goods and Services Tax (GST) on online gaming platforms. Faced with the labyrinth of legal complexities spawned by the ‘shifting regulatory environment,’ the startup confronted challenges, including high TDS, payment gateway issues, and the burdensome cost of customer conversion.
Bluepad
Conceived by the clever trio of Sanjyot Bhosale, Devakrishna Asokar, and Kishore Garimella, Bluepad emerged in 2020 as a cultural mosaic, bringing together Indian content enthusiasts in regional languages. Blogs, poems, stories, and experiences found a vibrant space for expression within its virtual walls.
However, the curtains fell in April 2023, and Bluepad succumbed to the absence of a compelling market demand. Having raised ₹1.8 Cr in a pre-seed round led by Titan Capital and AngelList’s Syndicate in 2021, Bluepad returned the unutilised capital. Post-closure, the cofounders embarked on separate journeys — Bhosale steering as a product manager at Koo, Garimella founding WorkBrow, and Asokar assuming the role of CEO at Articuno Coding.