Quick commerce and hyperlocal delivery player Dunzo raised $240 million in its raised funding round, led by Reliance Retail, which invested $200 million. With this, Reliance Retail will own 25.8% stake in Dunzo. The other investors in the round were Lightbox, Lightrock, 3L Capital and Alteria Capital.
Following the investment, a statement by the companies said that Dunzo will enable hyperlocal logistics for Reliance Retail-operated retail stores as well as facilitate last-mile deliveries for JioMart, Reliance Retail’s grocery delivery business. Dunzo was earlier reportedly in talks with Tata Digital as part of its superapp ambitions.
Dunzo said that the funding will be used to further its “vision to be the largest quick commerce business in the country” as well as to enable instant delivery of essentials from a network of micro warehouses. It added that it is also looking at expanding its B2B business vertical to enable logistics for local merchants in Indian cities.
Bengaluru-based Dunzo is currently present in seven metro cities and is looking to use the money to expand to 15 cities. Dunzo also has an instant grocery delivery model called Dunzo Daily, where it competes with players such as Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit and Zepto. Dunzo Daily, it said, is seeing 20% week-on-week growth.
Dunzo CEO and co-founder Kabeer Biswas said, “Since our inception, we have been razor-focused on providing an unmatched customer experience and this funding round is a resounding validation of our approach…With this investment from Reliance Retail, we will have a long-term partner with whom we can accelerate growth and redefine how Indians shop for their daily & weekly essentials.”
Reliance Retail Director Isha Ambani said that they have been “highly impressed” with how Dunzo disrupted the space. Calling Dunzo a “pioneer of quick commerce in India,” she said, “We want to support them in furthering their ambitions of becoming a prominent local commerce enabler in the country. Through our partnership with Dunzo, we will be able to provide increased convenience to Reliance Retail’s consumers and differentiated customer experience through rapid delivery of products from Reliance Retail stores. Our merchants will get access to the hyperlocal delivery network of Dunzo to support their growth as they move their business online through Jio Mart.”