I'd think about three things:
1) A startup that asks for advances usually does so because it needs/wants more capital to cover pre-preduction expenses.
2) In the event of bankruptcy, customers do not stand first, and it would be my guess that such pre-payments would come in about dead last in terms of potential settlement. If Indian falters, kiss the pre-payment goodbye.
3) The history of startups is littered with failures deftly executed by companies that simply could not fail, given their market, product, patents, loyal customers, etc.