National start-up day: Amid funding cloud, hopes for fresh pitch

Start-up funding in the cou­ntry declined 33 per cent during the year, the PwC data showed

The fifth episode of the second season of Shark Tank India, which was aired last week, saw a story unfold on live television. Ganesh Balakrishnan, who had come to raise funds for his casual footwear start-up Flatheads, made a pitch. All was going well until the difficult details came to the fore: Flatheads was neck-deep in losses, the founder was putting in money from his own pocket, and the venture was close to a complete collapse.
 

As India marks the first National Start-up Day on Monday — one year since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced January 16 as the day