Investors or Opportunists? The Sad Reality of Funding Innovation in India

If you go looking for investment in India, you will notice something strange. Most investors, especially those who act like stockbrokers, will ask one question:

“How much money will I make in return?”

This might sound logical, but here’s the problem—they don’t ask how they can help you innovate. Instead of believing in the idea and investing in its growth, they expect you to first build the product, prove its success, and then come to them.

But wait—if the product is already successful, why would you even need them?

The Risk-Averse Investor Mindset

An investor’s job should be to fund ideas, support innovation, and take calculated risks. Unfortunately, many Indian investors behave like glorified money lenders. They want zero risk but maximum returns.

Here’s how their thinking works:

1. If you have only an idea? Not interested.
2. If you have a prototype? Maybe, but show me customers first.
3. If you have customers? Grow more, then I’ll think about it.
4. If you have a profitable business? Now I’m interested—how much can I take?

This is not real investing. This is opportunism.

How This Kills Innovation

Innovation doesn’t happen after success; it happens before success. It happens when someone has a bold idea but needs financial support to make it real. If investors wait until success is visible, they are not building anything new—they are just buying into something that already exists.

This is why many Indian entrepreneurs:

• Struggle to get funding at early stages.
• End up shutting down great ideas because no one supports them.
• Seek foreign investors who understand the risk of innovation.
• Move abroad to build their companies in the US, UK, or Singapore, where investors actually take risks.

What Needs to Change?

If we want India to be a global leader in innovation, we need investors who:

• Think long-term, not just about quick profits.
• Support ideas, not just finished products.
• Take risks, not just wait for safe bets.

Investment should be about building the future together, not just taking advantage of success later.

The question is: Will Indian investors change, or will India’s best innovators keep leaving?

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