Well, this era is the era of startups and we see them cropping up like mushrooms everywhere. But in this fiercely competitive world, opening a startup may sound easy, but sustaining it surely is a challenge that not everyone is able to overcome. Here is a look at some of the biggest startup failures of the year gone by
Just Buy Live
The Business
Just Buy Live connected retailers to buy goods directly from brands across multiple categories such as food, drinks, personal care, auto, smartphones, fashion, stationery, etc. The company even felicitated an unsecured credit to SMEs. They were able to raise $100 Mn from a Dubai based investment firm, in 2017.
Reason for Failure
Multiple reports claim that the company had to shut down because of negative cash flow and unscalable business model. Though the co-founder has said that the company is only temporarily shut and will resume operations after a fresh round of funding, market experts seem that as an unlikely event.
Shotang
The Business
Shotang was a B2B online marketplace that connected retailers, distributors, and manufacturers manage their business online using Shotang’s platform. They mainly focused on mobile phones as apparels as the products and earned commissions from the distributors for each transaction.
Reason for Failure
Although Shotang had garnered enough capital and also reached a market valuation of $40 Mn, the fierce competition from brands like Flipkart, Amazon and Paytm Mall led to its closure.
Zebpay India
The Business
Zebpay was India’s biggest crypto exchange company until its closure. The platform allowed people to buy and sell bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. It had more than 3 Mn users on its platform.
Reason for Failure
Following the circular issued by RBI in April 2018, which restricted banks and regulated payment companies from extending any services to crypto exchanges and wallets, Zebpay decided to shut down its operations. Although most of the crypto exchanges knocked the doors to Supreme Court lack of crypto rules and regulations in India led to the closure of most of such companies.
Zebpay, on September 28, 2018, announced its closure. In a statement, it said, “At this point, we are unable to find a reasonable way to conduct the cryptocurrency exchange business.”
Mr. Needs
The Business
An online subscription-based platform for delivery of daily used products and grocery items like milk, eggs, bread etc. It was serving 36000 monthly orders for over 9000 families in Noida.
Reason for Failure
Though no clear reasons have come on the surface to why this startup shut its operations, it’s being assumed that tough competition from brands like Big Basket and Daily Ninja have resulted in its closure. The company has pulled down its website and the app doesn’t appear on the Play Store anymore.
Tazzo
The Business
Tazzo was a bike rental startup that offered point to point commuting service and charged only Rs 5 per km
Its mobile application was integrated using GPS technology and tracked every movement of its entire fleet in real-time, including overspeeding, theft, etc.
Reason for Failure
The company wasn’t able to prove itself as a profitable alliance and lack of funds for sustenance led to its closure.
Let us hope that this new year proves to be a good one for the companies and they are able to sustain themselves for a long run in the business.
