India’s Top 10 Loss-Making Startups : Behind the Billion-Dollar Burn
India’s startup ecosystem, once the darling of global investors, is experiencing a financial reckoning. The period between 2024 and 2025 has exposed harsh realities — unicorn status does not guarantee profitability. As funding slows and investor scrutiny intensifies, several high-profile Indian startups are grappling with unprecedented losses.
This article explores the top 10 loss-making startups in India for FY 2024–25, analyzing the reasons behind their financial setbacks, operational failures, and what lies ahead for these ventures in a changing economic climate.
1. Swiggy – Serving Growth, Losing Profits
Swiggy, India’s leading food delivery platform, recorded a staggering loss of ₹1,730 crore in the first nine months of FY 2024–25. While its revenue crossed $1 billion, operational costs outweighed its income.
The startup’s aggressive investment in Instamart, its quick-commerce vertical, has been a major contributor to the losses. With 10-minute grocery deliveries, warehousing expenses, and last-mile logistics, profitability has remained elusive. Swiggy also faces stiff competition from Zomato, which has begun to report profits in recent quarters.
2. Byju’s – The EdTech Empire in Decline
Once valued at $22 billion, Byju’s has become a cautionary tale in India’s startup narrative. Although the company has not officially declared FY25 losses, industry estimates place them well over ₹8,000 crore.
Byju’s downfall stems from over-acquisition and poor integration of subsidiaries such as WhiteHat Jr., Aakash, and Toppr. The company is also facing legal challenges, funding issues, board exits, and a massive valuation drop to under $2 billion. Once a symbol of India’s EdTech success, Byju’s now stands at a crossroads.
3. Ola – Speeding Towards a Roadblock
Ola, India’s ride-hailing pioneer, is struggling to regain its pre-pandemic momentum. The company posted a ₹772 crore loss in FY23, and early reports suggest similar financial struggles in FY24–25.
Ola’s pivot toward electric vehicles (EVs) with Ola Electric came with high R&D costs and production bottlenecks. At the same time, the ride-hailing business faced service quality issues, high driver attrition, and regulatory scrutiny, especially in major cities.
4. Unacademy – Learning the Hard Way
Unacademy, a leading EdTech startup, reported a 62% reduction in losses but remains far from profitability. The company laid off hundreds of employees, shut down non-core verticals, and paused expansions.
Its earlier bet on celebrity-driven marketing (featuring Virat Kohli) and sports sponsorships yielded poor returns. As online learning demand normalizes post-COVID, Unacademy’s revenue streams weakened. While its cost-cutting helped temporarily, it still faces high customer churn and low course renewal rates.
5. Zomato – Profits in Parts, Losses in Grocery
While Zomato surprised the market by posting its first-ever quarterly profit in FY24, it continues to bleed cash through Blinkit, its grocery delivery arm. Blinkit reportedly posted over ₹1,100 crore in losses in FY23, and the trend likely continued into FY24–25.
Zomato’s entry into quick commerce came late, with competitors like Swiggy Instamart and Zepto already entrenched. The company is now focusing on streamlining Blinkit operations, but warehousing and logistics remain expensive.
6. Dunzo – From Hyperlocal Hero to Shutdown
Dunzo, backed by Reliance Retail and Google, officially shut down its consumer app and website in January 2025. Once celebrated for pioneering hyperlocal delivery in India, Dunzo failed to scale its operations and raise follow-up funding.
The company faced cash flow problems, delayed vendor payments, and frequent layoffs. The hyperlocal delivery model, while loved by users, proved financially unsustainable due to razor-thin margins and high delivery costs.
7. PharmEasy – Healthtech Facing a Financial Illness
PharmEasy, a prominent player in India’s online pharmacy space, reported losses of ₹2,731 crore in the last fiscal year. The company postponed its IPO after failing to meet investor expectations regarding profitability and governance.
The acquisition of Thyrocare Diagnostics further strained PharmEasy’s balance sheet. Rising competition from Tata 1mg and NetMeds, combined with regulatory hurdles and logistics costs, has slowed its growth considerably.
8. Eruditus – Premium Education, Premium Losses
Eruditus, known for offering Ivy League-style online executive education, posted a massive ₹2,645 crore loss in FY23. The company’s expenses soared due to global partnerships, expensive faculty contracts, and high customer acquisition costs.
Despite partnerships with Harvard, Wharton, and INSEAD, Eruditus struggled to achieve scale in India, where demand for premium online education remains niche. Localization efforts were limited, and global expansion came at the cost of profitability.
9. DailyHunt – Content Aggregation with Limited Monetization
DailyHunt, which operates the short-video platform Josh, reported a ₹2,563 crore loss in FY23. Despite having over 300 million users, the company struggled to monetize its content effectively.
Josh failed to match the scale and virality of YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels. While DailyHunt remains popular for regional news aggregation, ad revenue in smaller towns and rural regions has not matched expectations. Content moderation and production costs further deepened losses.
10. PhonePe – India’s UPI Giant Still in the Red
PhonePe continues to dominate India’s digital payments landscape but has not turned profitable. In FY23, the company reported a loss of ₹2,014 crore, with only marginal revenue growth.
Despite having over 400 million users, PhonePe’s revenue model — built around zero-fee UPI payments — offers little room for monetization. Its entry into mutual funds, insurance, and gold hasn’t yet yielded meaningful profits. Maintaining infrastructure and offering cashback incentives continue to strain finances.
Analysis: Why Are These Startups Losing Money?
Several key patterns emerge across these startups:
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Aggressive expansion without sustainable models
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Heavy customer acquisition spending
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Delayed monetization strategies
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Over-dependence on investor funding
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Poor post-COVID demand forecasts
Investor Sentiment: The Age of Accountability
The funding climate has cooled dramatically. Investors are now favoring capital-efficient, revenue-generating businesses over flashy, high-burn unicorns. IPO delays, layoffs, and restructuring are becoming common as founders refocus on survival and sustainability.
Conclusion: The Road Ahead for Indian Startups
The story of India's loss-making startups is not a tale of failure but a wake-up call. These losses signal a shift in market dynamics — from growth-at-all-costs to a focus on fundamentals. Startups that adapt, reduce operational inefficiencies, and prioritize customer value will endure.
As India’s startup ecosystem matures, the survivors will be those who understand that valuation is vanity, but profit is sanity.
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