Dunzo Faces Another Cofounder Exit: Mukund Jha Set To Leave Cash-Strapped Startup

Challenges seem to persist for Dunzo, the Indian quick commerce startup. Just a day after the company confirmed the departure of cofounder Dalvir Suri, new reports have surfaced about the exit of another cofounder and CTO, Mukund Jha.

In a statement to Inc42, a Dunzo spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied the reports. Instead, it said, “Mukund remains an integral part of Dunzo’s leadership team. While we are restructuring the org with new leaders driving key mandates, Mukund will continue to be an important part of the strategic leadership team guiding and directing Dunzo’s future roadmap.”

The news of Jha’s potential departure has not been formally announced within the startup. According to a Moneycontrol report, only a select few employees have been informed of this development. The report also suggests that Jha has withdrawn from day-to-day operations, and a formal announcement regarding his status may be expected in the coming weeks.

The duo (Jha and Suri) have also stepped away from the board of the quick commerce startup.

Another report by The Morning Context added that several board members of the company have quit in recent times, these include — Vaidhehi Ravindran from Lightrock and Reliance Retail’s Rajendra Kamath and Ashwin Khasgiwala.

With this, the board only include — Dunzo CEO Kabeer Biswas, Siddharth Talwar from Lightbox and Hongjim Kim from STIC Investments remain on the startup’s board.

Dunzo has four cofounders, and now with the exit of two cofounders only Biswas and Ankur Aggarwal are left in the company. It must be noted that out of the four, only Biswas holds equity in the company and the rest receive fixed salaries.

Jha’s departure comes at a time when Dunzo is looking to raise funds and line up capital to the tune of $25 Mn – $30 Mn to keep operations afloat, with Reliance Retail likely to increase its stake in the company.

Dunzo has raised around $500 Mn since 2015 from the likes of Reliance, Google, Lightrock, Lightbox, Blume Ventures and several others. Reliance is the largest shareholder with a 25.8% stake in the company, and Google is the second-largest with around 19% ownership in Dunzo.

Amid a significant liquidity crisis, Dunzo has been postponing employee salaries for an extended period. Multiple rounds of layoffs have also been executed, and CEO Biswas recently indicated that more job cuts could be on the horizon.

In FY22, Dunzo recorded a twofold increase in net losses, reaching INR 464 Cr, even as its operating revenue saw a 2.1x growth to INR 54.3 Cr for the same year.