Dunzo co-founder Dalvir Suri departs amid company-wide restructuring

Dalvir Suri, co-founder of quick commerce company Dunzo, has resigned from the firm amidst the company’s financial stress and layoffs, according to multiple people aware of the development.

Suri has been leading the business-to-business logistics arm Dunzo Merchant Services (DMS).

Dunzo has confirmed Suri’s departure and said it is undertaking a company-wide restructuring this quarter.

"Dalvir has been instrumental in building out every new line of business at Dunzo. He has been the key zero to one person from the founding team that just gets things Dun. He has been meaning to take a break for sometime now - and with 6+ years spent building Dunzo, he plans to move forward to pursuing new journeys,” Kabeer Biswas, CEO and Founder, said.

In recent quarters, DMS has emerged as the linchpin of Dunzo's business model, especially as the unit economics of quick commerce failed to turn profitable, leading to the downsizing of this cash-intensive vertical. As per sources, the B2B division has been working with around 30,000 merchants every month, with a fleet of about 70,000 to 75,000 delivery partners in its logistics network, handling approximately one million orders a month. DMS had operations in major metros including Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Delhi-NCR, and Kolkata.

“We are making some org wide changes in restructuring our business starting this quarter, and the DMS business has very capable leadership that’s picking up directly after him (Suri)," Biswas said.

Last week, Business Today reported that the company is preparing a fresh round of layoffs to cut costs. Dunzo informed its employees that they would receive their full and final settlements in January. The Reliance- and Google-backed startup had laid off 30 per cent of its staff after securing $75-million funding in April this year. Moreover, the company management also planned a pivot in business model and decided to shut 50 per cent of its dark stores across the country.

Meanwhile, the company is engaging with a set of new and existing investors to close a $30 million funding round which will become a lifeline for the company. As per sources, its existing backers Reliance Retail and Google are likely to participate in the round. 

With 25.8 per cent stake, Reliance Retail is the single largest shareholder in Dunzo while and Google is the second-largest with around 19 per cent.

According to Ministry of Corporate Affairs filings, in FY22, Dunzo reported a total revenue of Rs 67.7 crore. The company’s expenses stood at Rs 531.7 crore. The operating revenue was at Rs 54.3 crore and consolidated loss stood at Rs 464 crore.

As per data from Tracxn, Dunzo has raised close to $500 million from Reliance Retail, Google India, Lightrock, Lightbox, Blume Ventures and other investors.

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