Google-backed Dunzo raises Rs 78 cr from Alteria, expands into other cities

The delivery and local e-commerce firm is steadily expanding deeper into other cities

Google-backed delivery and e-commerce firm Dunzo said it has raised $11 million (over Rs 78 crore) from Alteria Capital. It said Alteria Capital, India’s largest venture debt fund, has been a crucial peg in Dunzo’s mission to become a profitable local e-commerce company. 

As a quickly maturing business, Dunzo said it has built a playbook on profitability across the cities it is present in, especially crucial cities like Bengaluru and Pune. The company is now steadily expanding deeper into other cities and is also adapting its strategy to the changing demands of urban cities. 

“From the early stages of Dunzo, we’ve always focused on building a sustainable business model. Profitability has always been the barometer of success and we’re seeing it manifest across several of our micro-markets. As we deploy this playbook into other cities, we’re extremely conscious of what our consumers want,” said Kabeer Biswas, CEO and co-founder, Dunzo. “Our aim is to keep building exceptional customer experiences for our merchants, delivery partners, and users with the most efficient logistics solution in the world. In this journey, as markets turn profitable, we are able to fuel our growth with debt while having a significantly higher return on investment for customers and stakeholders,” he said.

Founded by Kabeer Biswas, Mukund Jha, Dalvir Suri, and Ankur Aggarwal in 2015, Dunzo has been pioneering the way urban India transacts with the offline world. Venture debt from Alteria would allow Dunzo to scale profitable geographies while retaining value for its existing shareholders, including employees. 

“Kabeer and the team at Dunzo have ensured that the benchmark for hyperlocal services has been raised significantly,” said Vinod Murali, managing partner, Alteria Capital. He further said, “While this segment is quite competitive, Dunzo is equipped to be a market leader in the medium term and we are very happy to double down on a high performing company in our portfolio.”