[Update] Dunzo Cofounder Kabeer Biswas To Join Flipkart

Update | January 9, 1:30 PM

Hyperlocal delivery startup Dunzo’s cofounder is joining ecommerce giant Flipkart, sources close to the Walmart-backed company told Inc42.

Given his experience of about 10 years in the rapid delivery segment, Biswas is likely to lead operations of Flipkart’s quick commerce arm ‘Minutes’.

This comes at a time when Flipkart has stepped on the gas to expand its quick commerce offerings amid rising competition from incumbents Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart.

Queries sent to Flipkart didn’t elicit any response at the time of publishing this story.

Original Story | January 6, 3:06 PM

Hyperlocal delivery startup Dunzo’s cofounder Kabeer Biswas will likely join Flipkart Minutes as head of operations, Moneycontrol reported.

This decision follows a challenging period for Dunzo, which has seen several other cofounders, including Mukund Jha, Dalvir Suri and Ankur Agarwal, leave the company in recent months.

Inc42 has reached out to Biswas and Flipkart for comments on the development. The story will be updated based on the response.

Dunzo’s largest shareholder Reliance Retail also recently wrote off its $200 Mn investment in the company. It was also reported that Reliance Retail will further refrain from infusing additional funds into Dunzo or acquiring it amid its cash crunch. 

Dunzo’s difficulties, including facing a cash crunch and retreating from quick commerce, made Biswas look for potential acquisition deals, reportedly valuing Dunzo at around INR 300 Cr(around $25-30 Mn). 

This is a subsequent decline from the $770 Mn valuation of its last funding round in which Reliance infused the funds. 

These hardships resulted in delayed salaries for employees in the last one and a half years. 

Not to mention, the company had explored potential buyout talks with Swiggy and Tata’s BigBasket, but the negotiations probably fell through. 

Earlier this year, Reliance Retail explored the possibility of acquiring Dunzo at a significantly reduced valuation. Notably, in July, Biswas informed employees that key investors, including Reliance Retail, had pledged to inject additional funds into the company. However, this funding did not come to fruition.

By August, Biswas updated employees, stating that the “fundraising process hit a roadblock,” as the management was unable to finalise the transaction.

According to the report, Reliance Retail withdrew its interest in the company, citing an unwillingness to take on the quick delivery startup’s debt obligations.