Dunzo Cofounder Kabeer Biswas Set to Exit

-Industry veterans are expecting Biswas’ formal resignation to come soon.

-Mukund Jha, Dalvir Suri, and Ankur Agarwal are the other departed cofounders of Dunzo. 

-The hyperlocal startup has been in the news lately for its financial struggles.

Reliance-backed hyperlocal startup, Dunzo’s last remaining cofounder Kabeer Biswas, may soon exit the company. The discussion around his leaving has taken place with investors recently, as per a report by The Economic Times.

Mukund Jha, Dalvir Suri, and Ankur Agarwal are the other departed cofounders of Dunzo. 

The hyperlocal startup has been in the news lately for its financial struggles that led Dunzo to take drastic measures including several rounds of layoffs, including that of last September’s. In September 2024, Dunzo reportedly had to let go 75% of its workforce facing financial constraints. 

Industry veterans are expecting Biswas’ formal resignation to come soon. According to different sources, Kabeer Biswas and Ankur Agarwal registered a new venture, Nexavise Solutions, in June 2024. Since then, the duo has been trying to get funding from different sources. But due to non-competence agreement with Reliance, the fundraise is not getting through.

Dunzo has delayed salary payments for over 18 months as well. Sources suggest that Biswas himself has not received a salary for the past 20 months.

From a WhatsApp Group to a Mighty Player

Dunzo was founded in 2014 by Kabeer Biswas, Ankur Agarwal, and other cofounders, initially starting as a simple WhatsApp group. The idea behind the platform was to provide a quick and efficient way for people in Bengaluru to get errands done, such as picking up groceries, delivering documents, or running other small tasks.

The founders saw an opportunity to leverage technology for local deliveries, so they created an app that allowed users to request deliveries or services for various needs. By using WhatsApp initially, Dunzo built a community-driven platform where users could directly communicate with “runners” who would perform the tasks.

Dunzo's business quickly evolved from a small errand-running service to a larger hyperlocal delivery platform. As the company gained traction, it raised significant funding from investors such as Google, Reliance, Lightrock, and Blume Ventures, which allowed it to expand its services and grow into the quick-commerce space, offering deliveries ranging from groceries to pharmaceuticals and even restaurant food.

Over time, Dunzo established itself as a key player in India’s rapidly growing on-demand delivery sector, making it a prominent competitor to other services including Swiggy Instamart and Zomato’s Blinkit.