Bengaluru, India-based food delivery startup Dunzo has raised $28 million in what is the first tranche of the company’s Series E round. Entracker was first to report the news, noting that this round was led by Google and LGT Lightstone Aspada with participation from Lightbox, Bhoruka Finance Corporation, 3L Capital, Moving Capital, and Pivot Ventures.
The round follows Dunzo’s $45 million fundraise in October 2019 and brings the company’s total funding to $116.4 million.
Dunzo, which started as a WhatsApp group in 2014 to connect locals to grocery stores and restaurants, has over the years grown into a sizable e-commerce platform that delivers groceries, restaurant meals, and other supplies to customers around India’s major cities. According to Entracker, the company has about 75,000 stores on its platform.
It’s a lucrative, albeit highly competitive, time to be a food delivery startup, with the pandemic keeping more people at home and subsequently raising demand for online groceries and meal orders. Dunzo itself said in April it had seen a 3x increase in growth for food and beverage orders.
Though it’s hardly the only service in India that’s kept busy ferrying all manner of food goods to customers on lockdown. Both Swiggy and Zomato, the country’s major restaurant delivery services, have recently added grocery services. Both have also announced layoffs, too, underscoring the impact COVID-19 has had on business. The Indian food delivery market has also seen some consolidation: In March of this year, Zomato bought Uber Eats’ India business for $206 million.
Like Swiggy and Zomato, Dunzo has been diversifying its business of late. Entracker reports that the company has recently invested in B2B services to “enable logistics for hyperlocal retailers.” It also currently runs 10 “dark stores” that help local retailers fulfill more orders.
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