Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani makes a new purchase to take on Amazon and Swiggy in quick commerce

• Reliance Retail has invested $200 million in Google-backed quick commerce company Dunzo.
• Dunzo’s valuation has nearly doubled to over $775 million post this investment by Reliance.
• The eight-year-old startup has raised $240 million in this round to enter 15 cities.

Reliance Retail, a subsidiary of India’s biggest private corporation Reliance Industries (RIL), has invested $200 million in Google-backed quick commerce company Dunzo. The Mukesh Ambani-led company will own 25.8% stake in the eight-year-old startup, on a fully diluted basis.

The valuation of the startup at which the financing round was done was not revealed. Just a back of the envelope calculation shows that if Ambani’s 25% stake is worth $200 million, the value of the entire 100% would be over $775 million. This is more than double the valuation of $300 million that was accorded to the company last year.

This will allow Asia’s richest man, Ambani, to open yet another front with Jeff Bezos’ Amazon, which currently has a similar service called Amazon Fresh. The other contestants in this emerging space, where top investors are throwing in big bucks, are the $5-billion food and grocery delivery app Swiggy, the new unicorn Blinkit, formerly known as Grofers, and other players with promise like Zepto. A unicorn, in startup parlance, is a private firm valued at or over $1 billion.


Several existing investors Lightbox, Lightrock, 3L Capital and Alteria Capital have also invested $40 million in the company. Overall, Dunzo has raised $240 million in this round.

“Through our partnership with Dunzo, we will be able to provide increased convenience to Reliance Retail’s consumers and differentiated customer experience through rapid delivery of products from Reliance Retail stores. Our merchants will get access to the hyperlocal delivery network of Dunzo to support their growth as they move their business online through Jio Mart,” Isha Ambani, director of Reliance Retail, said.

Founded by Dalvir Suri, Mukund Jha, Kabeer Biswas and Ankur Agarwal in 2015, Dunzo connects users with vendors like grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants and more to facilitate delivery of products. It also allows its customers to facilitate peer-to-peer deliveries by hiring a partner to fulfill pick-and-drop orders.

The company is currently operating in 7 metro cities and the additional capital will be used to expand its quick commerce business to 15 cities.

SEE ALSO
If you are looking to travel to UK, US or France, these are the restrictions you need to know

Diwali and Christmas may have saved DMart’s quarter

UK lifts pre-arrival Covid-19 test rule for overseas travelers