Generally speaking startups seek funding in order to accelerate growth. By taking on additional capital, they can hire more employees, allowing them to address

Generally speaking startups seek funding in order to accelerate growth. By taking on additional capital, they can hire more employees, allowing them to address the market faster, and thus unlock more revenue--sometimes more quickly, but not always. Realistically, a business trades profitability for growth when they take on outside money but they're hedging their bets that the growth potential accelerates their upside long (or maybe even short-ish) term.