Dunzo goes offline after cofounder Kabeer Biswas joins Flipkart

Reliance-backed hyperlocal delivery app Dunzo has gone offline following the departure of cofounder and CEO Kabeer Biswas after he joined Flipkart. Dunzo, which was once at the top of India's quick commerce space, was already struggling for the past 12-18 months and was on a steep decline. However, following the departure of Biswas, the app and website have shut down completely, displaying error messages to users. Kabeer Biswas has joined rival Flipkart's quick commerce business called Minutes.

Dunzo had raised over $450 million, including $200 million from Reliance Retail in January 2022. However, it was facing constant financial difficulties and had drastically reduced its operations. The startup had downsized quite a bit and even faced salary delays for employees. Dunzo’s creditors have taken the company to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) over unpaid dues.

Both Reliance Retail and Google hold major stakes in Dunzo, with Reliance Retail having a 26% stake and Google with a 20% stake in the company. It was also reported in 2023 that PhonePe made an offer to Dunzo to invest a significant amount in its merchant network business, but it was turned down as Dunzo's investors had concerns with PhonePe's parent company Walmart, and did not want to give up the Dunzo brand name. 

Despite being a pioneer in India's quick commerce landscape, Dunzo failed to capitalise on its early-mover advantage and fell behind rivals like Zomato-owned Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart, and Zepto. The top three currently dominate the quick commerce landscape in India; Blinkit leads the race with a 46% market share, followed by Zepto in second with a 29% market share and Swiggy Instamart with a 25% market share, according to a Motilal Oswal report.