E-commerce

Dunzo’s funding crunch and failed quick-commerce ambitions

Pranav Balakrishnan

July 21, 2023 | 4 Min Read

A severe funding crunch has seen concierge service-turned-quick commerce platform Dunzo unable to meet its salary obligations. With the likes of Reliance Retail and Google backing it, and having achieved that rare startup distinction of becoming a verb, how did things go so wrong?

Things appear to be going from bad to worse for Dunzo. On July 20, reports emerged that the Bengaluru-based startup had been served with legal notices by Facebook, Google, and software consultancy firm Nilenso for non-payment of dues running into crores of rupees. Google, incidentally, is also Dunzo’s second-largest backer.

The beleaguered Dunzo has also begun a fresh round of layoffs, trimming its workforce by 30-40%. This is the third round of layoffs at the company this year, with about 400 employees receiving pink slips in the previous two rounds.

Read this article for free

In addition, access 50+ archived articles and 3 new articles every month

Join our community of 100,000+ top executives, VCs, entrepreneurs, and brightest student minds

Trusted by the best

Karthik Reddy

Blume Ventures

The CapTable brings a refreshing set of insights for us at the Blume team, highlighting stories that bring together the underlying business and founders with that of investors' journeys with these startups. It's an important perspective that very few bring to startup ecosystem enthusiasts.

Latest Articles

Starlink got the green light from DoT. Now the real work begins.

India has tweaked its stringent satellite communication rules after pushback from foreign players like Starlink and Amazon Kuiper. With Starlink agreeing to revised norms, it becomes the third firm set to enter India’s satellite broadband race—but the finish line is still far off.

Pratap Vikram Singh

Why Ather’s IPO didn’t ignite

The lukewarm response to Ather’s IPO was expected. A turbulent stock market, rising competition from Big Auto, and investor wariness after Ola Electric’s listing left shares unappealing. Its long-term story, however, remains intact.

Pranav Balakrishnan

Inside the shifting investing and spending habits of India’s ultra-rich

India’s getting richer, and its ultra-rich are getting younger. An all-new cohort of Indian UHNIs has emerged lately, exhibiting varied investing and spending patterns that set them apart from the generationally wealthy and their heirs.

Sohini Mitter

Inside India’s thriving NSFW livestream black market

On encrypted channels across Telegram, Reddit, and Discord, Indian youth are recording, repackaging, and reselling NSFW livestreams from platforms like Tango Live—powered by UPI payments, digital anonymity, and a regulatory vacuum too slow to catch up.

Nikhil Patwardhan

As the study abroad slowdown worsens, India’s edtech exporters are scrambling

Rising costs, anti-immigration politics, and a shrinking rupee have hit India’s study abroad industry hard. For startups like Leverage and Leap Scholar, diversification is no longer optional—it’s a race for survival.

Parvathi Benu

Convinced that The Captable stories and insights
will give you the edge?

Convinced that The Captable stories
and insights will give you the edge?

Subscribe Now