Reliance Retail said on Thursday, January 6, that it has invested $240 million in on-demand delivery startup Dunzo. With this, the country’s largest corporate group Reliance will now enter the rapid delivery segment. There have been a lot of startups launched in the rapid delivery segment in the recent past and investors are also showing a lot of interest in this segment.
Reliance has bought a 25.8 percent stake in Bengaluru-headquartered Dunzo and during this period the valuation of Dunzo was estimated at around $800 million. Dunzo was started in 2016 by Kabir Biswas from Bangalore. In the last 5 years, this startup has also raised $ 140 million so far. However, on Thursday, an investment of $ 240 million was received from this Reliance in one stroke.
The deal will give Dunzo an edge to compete with other companies that deliver groceries and other essentials to urban homes, including Blinkit (formerly Grofers), new startup Zepto, Swiggy-owned Instamart, and Bigbasket.
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Other investors in Dunzo include Bloom Ventures, Google and Lightbox Ventures. Apart from this, LiteRock, 3L Capital and venture debt firm Alteria have also invested in it.
Speaking on the occasion, Biswas said, “Since inception, we have been focused on providing an unmatched experience to our customers. This funding round reaffirms our vision. I am proud of our team, who have worked tirelessly for the last three years. I am actively trying to build the category.”
He added, “With the investment of Reliance Retail, we will have a long-term partner with whom we can accelerate growth and also revolutionize the buying experience of people on their daily and weekly needs. “
Please note that Blikit and Zepto promise to deliver within 10 minutes. On the other hand, Dunzo provides delivery of goods to its users within 19 minutes. Dunzo’s CEO Biswas, in a conversation with Moneycontrol in June, said that he is not pushing for delivery within 10 minutes as the segment is not yet developed enough and delivery workers will have to bear the brunt of such fast delivery terms. may have to bear.
Biswas said, “Meeting the 10-minute delivery deadline is a bit difficult. Especially if you do not have a store in that area. Also, it will be a lot of pressure on the delivery partner as well.”
This is Reliance’s second major entry in the grocery delivery segment. Earlier, Reliance had launched its own grocery delivery platform called JioMart. It also acquired MilkBasket last year, which delivers milk and daily use items in Delhi, Bengaluru and other cities.
DisclaimerMoneycontrol is a part of Network18 Group. Network18 is controlled by the Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.
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