Priority lending tag to provide new credit lifeline for young startups

Say banks will have to understand ecosystem's high-growth business model

Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic struck the country, Prakash Kumar, an III-T graduate and founder of start-up KhaaliJeb, has been doing the rounds of offices of venture capital (VC) firms to raise funds for his bootstrapped banking app for the youth. He’s been turned down by 10 VCs so far.

“Pre-2016, a lot of young start-up founders were raising funds. But doing so has become difficulty now for new start-up founders. Most of the funds are being raised by second-time founders or those who have a corporate trail,” said Kumar, who has been bootstrapping KhaaliJeb for two years.

Many start-ups, particularly in