Kunal Shah Business Loss of ₹5,215 Cr When Valuation Meets Reality
The entrepreneurial journey of Kunal Shah co-founder of Freecharge and founder of CRED has recently come under scrutiny after a viral post by a consultant questioning the financial track record behind the hype.
According to the post by consultant Adarsh Samalopanan, over the last 15 years, Kunal Shah’s ventures have never delivered a profitable year. While Freecharge earned around ₹35 crore by 2015, it was running on heavy cashback-fuelled losses estimated at ₹269 crore.
After Freecharge’s acquisition by Snapdeal for ₹2,800 crore in 2015 only for it to be later sold to Axis Bank for ₹370 crore in 2017 the valuations came crashing down to just 14% of the earlier price.
Turning to CRED (launched in 2018), the consultant’s post claims the fintech company has generated cumulative revenues of roughly ₹4,493 crore yet posted a cumulative net loss of ₹5,215 crore over seven years. Not a single profitable financial year so far, raising serious doubts whether the narrative around Shah’s success is fair.
The Other Side: Vision, Disruption & A Different Definition of Success
Critics argue profits are the only true measure of business success. Meanwhile, supporters of Shah counter that early losses are a known feature of tech-startup growth, especially in the fintech space where building user base, trust, and scale often demand upfront capital infusion.
Kunal Shah himself responded to the LinkedIn critique by acknowledging the losses but urging people to “celebrate entrepreneurs” who take risks and build something new. In his words, “we need more job creators,” especially in a rapidly shifting tech world.
Proponents also highlight the broader impact: CRED and Freecharge were arguably early catalysts that reshaped how Indians think about digital payments, credit-card bill payments, and financial rewards. For them, the value lies beyond quarterly financial statements in behavior change, new user experiences, and building the foundations of India’s fintech market.
Why This Debate Matters: Valuation vs Profitability in India’s Startup Culture
The controversy around Kunal Shah underscores a larger, ongoing debate in India’s startup ecosystem: Should growth, valuations, user adoption and disruption be celebrated even when profitability remains elusive for years? Or is a viable long-term business only one with a healthy bottom line?
For investors, founders, and regulators the numbers tell one story. For innovators and early adopters, another story emerges: one of risk-taking, long-term vision, and building for the future.
Only time will tell whether companies like CRED will cross into sustainable profitability and whether the startup community will recalibrate its definition of “success.
