Athira Sethu
Kochi, 3 January 2025
Bengauru-headquartered Dunzo may see its CEO and last founding member, Kabeer Biswas’s exit in the near future, reports said.
Reports said Biswas spoke to investors about leaving the company, but that decision has not yet been passed. This has come at a challenging time for Dunzo as the delivery startup is facing problems in receiving new funding.
Since 2023, Dunzo has been struggling to raise capital in order to be competitive in the fast-growing quick commerce industry. The market is expanding rapidly through well-funded competitors such as Zomato’s Blinkit, Swiggy’s Instamart, and Zepto. It is very hard for Dunzo to maintain its position within the market space with such fierce competition.
Discussions regarding Biswas’s departure have been held with investors as Dunzo continues its fight for survival in this overcrowded space. Reports said that a few investors may be okay with the exit but that decision has to come from Reliance Retail, which is the principal investor in Dunzo.
Dunzo, the pioneer of hyper-local deliveries in India, has raised more than $450 million in funding, which includes debt. Its biggest investment came from Reliance Retail in January 2022 when the company injected $200 million as part of a larger $240 million funding round. Nonetheless, Dunzo has experienced severe reversals, from rounds of lay-offs and delays in salary payment to its staff since 2023. Its operations have shrunk as the company tries to balance its finances and stay in the game given the increasing pressures from its competitors.
