Indian hyperlocal delivery startup Dunzo is in late-stage talks to secure around $50 million in a new round of funding, two sources familiar with the matter told ukbusinessupdates.com, as the Bengaluru-headquartered startup seeks comfort in an otherwise financing winter for younger companies.
Reliance Retail and Google, two of Dunzo’s existing backers, are among those in talks to invest in the new round, the sources said, asking for anonymity as the information is private. Funding talks are currently largely continuing with existing lenders, the sources said.
The startup has been on the market for several months to raise capital and, according to the Indian newspaper, wanted to raise at least $ 70 million and even $ 150 million. Economic times.
Kabeer Biswas, co-founder and CEO of Dunzo, declined to comment 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 court a slice of the Indian retail market estimated to grow to more than $800 billion by 2025, according to estimates from brokerage. firm Bernstein.
Delivery startups, typically one of the most money-hungry businesses, find it unsurprising that it is particularly challenging to secure new rounds of funding amid the globally weakening economy.
Karthik Gurumurthy, the head of Swiggy’s Instamart company, said Friday that he is leaving the position. Building Instamart was “difficult with many compromises in terms of physical and mental well-being,” he wrote in a LinkedIn post.
It is a dynamic that is happening worldwide. Europe’s fast delivery market has been consolidated to three companies. Instacart has lowered its internal valuation to $10 billion from $39 billion in March 2021.
Story has been updated with more details on Instamart.
Read further: Reliance JioMart shuts down its fast delivery service ‘Express’ (economic times)
