Overview

• A viral LinkedIn post by Deloitte consultant Adarsh Samalopanan challenged why Kunal Shah’s ventures have never turned an annual profit in 15 years.
• The post detailed FreeCharge’s aggressive cashback strategy, which resulted in ₹269 crore losses by FY15 and a valuation drop from ₹2,800 crore to ₹370 crore after two acquisitions.
• It highlighted that CRED has earned ₹4,493 crore in revenue since 2018 yet recorded ₹5,215 crore in net losses.
• Shah conceded that profitability matters and emphasized that entrepreneurial risk-taking drives job creation in a changing economy.
• Industry observers are now calling for clearer paths to sustainable profitability in India’s fintech sector.