Google-backed Dunzo plans to deploy its errand-running fleet for bike-sharing

Bengaluru-based Dunzo Digital Pvt. Ltd, backed by Google, is planning to deploy its errand-running fleet of motorcycles for bike-sharing, a report said.

“Over the past few years, we’re seeing more and more governments adopt regulations enabling bike-sharing. We look forward to working with the government to enable bike-sharing at a mass scale,” Kabeer Biswas, co-founder of Dunzo told The Economic Times.

Dunzo’s diversification plan comes at a time when the bike-sharing services segment is already populated by players such as UberMoto, Pooltoo, Ola, Rapido and China’s Ofo, which recently launched its services in Coimbatore and Pune.

Email queries to Dunzo did not get a response till the time of publishing this report.

Dunzo, which has evolved into a verb today, mainly because its users in Bengaluru outsource the most mundane of chores to the app, saw in December 2017 an infusion of $12.3 million (Rs 80.8 crore) by Google, in the global search giant’s first direct investment in an Indian startup.
In November 2016, Dunzo had secured $1.18 million in its Series A round from Aspada Investment Advisors, show data from VCCEdge, the research platform of News Corp VCCircle.

In March 2016, the startup raised $650,000 (Rs 4.4 crore) in a pre-Series A round led by Aspada Investment Advisors and Blume Ventures. Prominent angel investors including Google India managing director Rajan Anandan and Just Dial’s then chief technology officer Sandipan Chattopadhyay had also participated in the round.

For the year through March 2017, the most recent period for which its financials are available, Dunzo’s revenue rose to Rs 98.5 lakh from Rs 71,000 the previous year. And all this growth (probably attributable to the word-of-mouth verbing publicity of Dunzo) has been without any marketing costs, co-founder Kabeer Biswas had told TechCircle.

Founded in 2015 by Ankur Aggarwal, Dalvir Suri, Mukund Jha and Biswas, Dunzo is a chat-based task management app that allows users to create to-do lists through its app and fulfils tasks such as picking up groceries or providing home services. The platform leverages both artificial intelligence and human operators to provide solutions.