Google-backed task management app Dunzo raises Series C funding

Bengaluru-based daily tasks management app Dunzo, run by Dunzo Digital Pvt. Ltd, has raised Rs 22.49 crore ($3.1 million at current exchange rates) in its Series C funding round from early-stage venture capital firm Blume Ventures and other investors, its filings with the Registrar of Companies show.

Lakshmi Narayanan, co-founder and former chief executive of software services company Cognizant; Monika Garware Modi of polyester film maker Garware Polyester Ltd and Raintree, the family office of stationery company the Camlin Group also put in money, the filings stated.

The company issued a total of 4,251 Series C compulsorily convertible cumulative preference shares at a premium of Rs 52,872 each to raise the capital.

Blume Ventures put in Rs 6.99 crore through Milestone Trusteeship, a debenture trustee registered with market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India; Narayanan invested Rs 7 crore; Garware invested Rs 3.49 crore; and Raintree put in Rs 5 crore. Last month, Dunzo had raised an additional Rs 1.1 crore from Blume (via Milestone), showed the filings.

A regulatory filing made by the firm in November 2018 stated that it would raise Rs 44.09 crore (around $6 million according to the exchange rates at the time) from tech giant Google, venture capital firm Blume and venture debt provider Alteria Capital.

TechCircle had reported in November that Dunzo had already received Rs 7 crore from Alteria.

The company had previously raised $12.3 million (Rs 80.8 crore) in a Series B funding round led by Google in December 2017.

The deal, which valued Dunzo at $30 million post-money, marked Google’s first direct investment in an Indian startup. Google’s parent firm Alphabet Inc. separately invests in Indian startups via CapitalG, its growth equity fund.

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

Founded in 2015 by Kabeer Biswas, Ankur Aggarwal, Dalvir Suri and Mukund Jha, Dunzo is a chat-based task management app that allows users to create to-do lists. It fulfills tasks such as grocery and restaurant deliveries, instant local courier services and home services. The platform uses both artificial intelligence and human operators to offer its services.

The three-year-old startup offers its services through a mobile app, which is available on both Android and iOS platforms. As part of the features offered, Dunzo enables users to create multiple tasks and track them simultaneously.

Dunzo is currently operational in Bengaluru, Delhi, Gurgaon, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad.