Google, Lightbox, others invest Series E money in hyperlocal delivery startup Dunzo

By Joseph Rai

  • 19 Jan 2021
Credit: Thinkstock

Dunzo Digital Pvt Ltd, a diversified hyperlocal delivery platform, on Tuesday said it has raised $40 million (around Rs 290 crore) as part of its Series E funding round.

The funding was raised from new and existing investors including Google, Lightbox, Evolvence, LGT Lightstone Aspada and S Korea's Hana Financial Investment, said Dunzo in a statement. Venture debt firm Alteria Capital also pooled in capital.

Of this $40 million funding, Dunzo had already raised $28 million as reported by Entrackr in September last year.

Dunzo’s gross merchandise value (GMV) grew two times last year despite the pandemic. The platform is now a $100 million annualised GMV business.

Dunzo said it will focus on sustainable growth across its fastest-growing cities such as Mumbai, Chennai, and Pune this year.

Prior to this Series E funding, Dunzo had raised $11 million (about Rs 78.8 crore) in venture debt from Alteria Capital in February last year. Alteria Capital had previously provided Rs 7 crore (around $1 million) in November 2018.

In October 2019, Dunzo raised $45 million (Rs 318.58 crore) in a funding round from Google, Lightbox, US-based growth equity firm 3L Capital, and S Korea's STIC Investment & STIC Ventures.

Other backers of Dunzo include Blume Ventures, Kalpavriksh Fund, and Patni Wealth Advisors, according to VCCEdge.

According to a valuation report filed with the registrar of companies, Dunzo was valued at $220 million as of June 2020.

Dunzo’s revenue from operations grew over fourfold to Rs 77 crore for the year ended March 31, 2020. Operational expenses grew to Rs 414 crore for 2019-20 from Rs 185 crore a year ago. The company posted a loss of Rs 343 crore for 2019-20, up from Rs 169 crore the previous year.

Dunzo was founded in 2015 by Kabeer Biswas, Ankur Agarwal, Dalvir Suri and Mukund Jha.

Competition in the hyperlocal space has been heating up as the pandemic has brought in a lot more customers to online commerce.

In July last year, Walmart-owned e-commerce major Flipkart launched a hyperlocal delivery app Flipkart Quick in Bengaluru. Later in September, Naspers-backed food delivery firm Swiggy rolled out Instamart, a new offering in its grocery business, to make last-mile delivery faster and sell a wider assortment of products.