Google joins $40m round of Indian hyperlocal delivery firm Dunzo

Dunzo, an India-based hyperlocal delivery firm, announced that it has completed US$40 million in a series E round from Google, Lightbox, Evolvence, Hana Financial Investment, LGT Lightstone Aspada, and Alteria Capital.

Photo credit: Dunzo

The company didn’t specify, however, if this round is an extension of its previous series E rounds, which the startup raised last year when it secured US$28 million in September and US$3.7 million in December.

Launched in 2015, Dunzo aims to transform the Indian retail landscape by empowering micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises with digital tools.

For users, it offers a full-stack of services that touch on commerce, courier, and commute segments.

“This capital stems from a year of robust growth amidst the pandemic. In the coming year, Dunzo will focus on deploying its playbook for sustainable growth across its fastest-growing cities such as Mumbai, Chennai, and Pune,” said the firm in a statement.

The company claims that it saw a 2x growth in gross merchandise volume (GMV) last year and is now a 100 million annualized GMV business. The growth in 2020 comes on the back of “strong and organic user demand,” while the company maintained gross margin profitability for the overall business, it said.

In the last six months, Dunzo shared that it has supported over 300 neighborhoods across eight cities in India, delivering essential goods to users within 29 minutes on average.

The latest investment comes as large firms like Walmart-owned Flipkart, Swiggy, and Zomato make their way into the hyperlocal delivery sector. Wefast, which raised US$15 million in a series B funding round in August 2019, is another player in the space.