Reliance-Backed Dunzo Approaches New $50M Funding

Indian hyperlocal delivery startup Dunzo is in advanced talks to secure around $50 million in a new funding round, two sources familiar with the matter have told TechCrunch, as the Bengaluru-based startup struggles to comfort itself in a winter otherwise funded for start-ups.

Reliance Retail and Google, two existing backers of Dunzo, are among those holding talks to invest in the new round, the sources said, requesting anonymity because the information is private. Funding deliberations are currently progressing largely with existing backers, the sources said.

The startup has been in the market for several months to raise capital and was looking to raise at least $70 million and up to $150 million, according to India’s Economic Times newspaper.

Kabeer Biswas, co-founder and chief executive of Dunzo, declined to comment on Thursday. Google and Reliance Retail did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Dunzo competes with Swiggy’s Instamart, YC Continuity-backed Zepto, Tata-owned BigBasket and Zomato’s BlinkIt, all of which are trying to woo a slice of India’s retail market that is expected to grow to over $800 billion by 2025. according to estimates by brokerage firm Bernstein.

Delivery startups, typically among the most cash-intensive companies, are unsurprisingly finding it particularly difficult to raise new rounds of funding amid a weakening global economy.

Karthik Gurumurthy, the head of Swiggy’s Instamart business, said on Friday he was stepping down. Building Instamart was “arduous with a lot of trade-offs on physical and mental well-being,” he wrote in a LinkedIn post.

This is a dynamic that is playing out on a global scale. The European fast delivery market has consolidated to three companies. Instacart reduced its internal valuation to $10 billion from $39 billion in March 2021.

The story has been updated with more details on Instamart.

Further reading: Reliance JioMart closes ‘Express’ fast delivery service (Economic Times)