Athira Sethu
Kochi, 14 January 2025
Dunzo, another prominent delivery-based platform in India, shut its website and the app citing intense financial stress. Dunzo reportedly ended the operations recently, and such news emerged about a fortnight after Kabeer Biswas, Dunzo’s co-founder and CEO, joined Flipkart and the quick-commerce division “Minutes,” reported Economic Times.
The company, which had been the leader of the quick delivery market in India for a year, has shrunk over time. Its operations have now stopped completely. Dunzo had fought to remain competitive despite raising $450 million, including $200 million from Reliance Retail in 2022.
Reliance Retail holds a 26% stake in Dunzo, and Google holds about 20%. Despite such major investors, Dunzo was unable to control its high spending and failed to raise further funds.
Flipkart and PhonePe had tried to acquire the company when it was in a financial crisis. However, the deal did not materialize because investors were not willing to let go of the Dunzo brand.
This includes layoffs and delays in salaries, since early 2023, as well as downsizing the operations to maintain daily expenses. However, still, the company is taken by the creditors to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) over its unpaid debts.
Former leaders of Dunzo like Ankur Agarwal who is a co-founder, have begun quick-commerce businesses and have almost reached the final rounds for fundraising.
Reliance Retail had heavily invested in Dunzo to expand its quick-commerce business. However, the partnership failed to deliver success as expected. There has been no word from Reliance regarding Dunzo’s present status.
Shutting down Dunzo is a big moment for India’s quick-commerce industry. It reveals the competition and market conditions can be extremely tough.
