Quick-grocery delivery provider Dunzo defers employee salaries from June-July to now in November Amid Fund Crunch

Quick commerce delivery startup Dunzo, which already has been struggling to shore up fresh funds, has now told its employees that pending salaries for June and July would now be paid in November. The cash-strapped firm, which is backed by Reliance Retail, has delayed paying salaries on several occasions for these two months.

The startup had previously deferred the June and July salaries of over 50 per cent of its workforce of 1,000 to the first week of September. It also capped employee salaries at ~75,000, irrespective of their pay package.

The latest communication came from founder and chief executive Kabeer Biswas in an internal all-hands call on Friday.  He also warned employees of further layoffs in case the cashflow situation worsened, without giving further details. He, however, promised that the salary for September would be paid on time in the first week of October.

Dunzo, which is valued at $800 million in its last round, may also downsize its office space in Bengaluru and has recently let go of 500 employees to mitigate costs.

Since its inception in 2015, Dunzo has managed to secure approximately $500 million in funding from investors like Reliance, Google, Lightrock, Lightbox, Blume Ventures, and others. Reliance holds the largest stake in the company, with a substantial 25.8 percent ownership, while Google is the second-largest shareholder with around 19 percent ownership, as reported by Tracxn, a private markets data provider.

Dunzo’s financial challenges have reached a critical point, with the company facing legal notices from more than seven companies and vendors, totaling over ₹11 crore in claims. In response to these financial pressures, Dunzo has resorted to three rounds of layoffs over the past year, resulting in the reduction of over 500 jobs.