{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Daybreak","title":"Why VCs love founders with baggage more than founders with new ideas","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/2d6216a7\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":583,"description":"India’s startup boom has lost its spark. Venture capital funding in the first half of 2025 dropped to just $3.6 billion—the lowest since 2016. Fresh ideas are scarce, and investors are stuck with fewer bets to make.\nSo who’s still getting the money? Familiar founders. Even those with messy track records. Pharmeasy’s co-founders, whose healthtech giant crashed from $5.6 billion to $460 million, raised fresh funds for All Home. Whitehat Jr’s Karan Bajaj, criticized for misleading ads, secured $16 million for his new venture.\nWhy are VCs are backing baggage over breakthroughs?\nTune in.\nDaybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/uPitovxKRYBGX6AWg9UrET6s3nAdkS-Ci9uZvsZj7vk/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS85ODhl/ZWM4NmEwZTcxZjZk/MDRlYjAzNTNkMjJi/ZGQ2YS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}