The past is prologue. If this startup was happening in any other country I would give it a chance. But it has zero chance of success here because of.. checks notes.. greed, corruption, weaponization of venture capital, weaponization of regulatory state and many many more.
Believe it or not, some people will spend money to gain a position of power to run a company into the ground. If you cant just buy it and kill it, you make sure someone gets near the levers of power to run it into the ground.