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Indian tocopherol - commerce whale Flipkart has held discussions in late weeks about potentially win Dunzo , the hyperlocal delivery startup plunk for by Reliance Retail , three sources familiar with the thing told TechCrunch . However , complexity environ Dunzo ’s ownership social system have made it difficult for the two party to reach an acquisition mass , grant to two generator familiar with the talks .
The antecedently unreported talks are still ongoing , all three sources said . The acquisition talk followa roiled year at Dunzo , which has beenstruggling to heighten cashand make stave payroll . Dunzo , which has raised about $ 500 million to date , has concede much of the hyperlocal delivery market to upstarts Zepto , Swiggy and Zomato ’s BlinkIt in recent quarters .
The mickle has yet to materialize as at least two players struggle to iron out the condition . Flipkart , owned by Walmart , is skeptical about exactly what it would be able to take over if it were to acquire Dunzo , which has several IP relationships with Reliance Retail , India ’s heavy retail string . Reliance Retail , the largest investor in Dunzo , has also not approve the hand .
Flipkart lead the Indian e - mercantilism food market and is prize at over $ 32 billion . It witness economic value in certain assets of Dunzo ’s , include the young Bengaluru - headquarter firm ’s business - to - business offerings .
In a affirmation , Dunzo refuted the report , term it “ hearsay . ” The spokesperson added : “ We are on way of life to release cash flow break even in the month of March’24 and we have not had any conversation with any player for an learning of the business . ” In the last three geezerhood , Dunzo has held negotiation with multiple company for an acquisition , including Tata and Zomato , according to more than a dozen people familiar with the subject .
The talk between Flipkart and Dunzo underscore the declining prospects for instant livery fellowship . These stage business have been around for class , but hype around their model reach a top during the initial geezerhood of the COVID-19 pandemic ; as the great unwashed stayed at home , they turned to company like Gopuff , Getir and Dunzo for superfast ( “ instant ” ) deliverance of an increasing array of everyday good .
Dunzo — founded in 2014 — was , in fact , one of the early startup to explore this model . Backed also by the likes of Google , Blume Ventures and Lightbox , it had ambitiousness to upend the country ’s eastward - commerce sector with its half - an - hr manner of speaking to shopper .
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While it also played in the B2B space , as global interest in the instant foodstuff delivery manakin surged , Dunzo shifted its aid back to hyperlocal serving , pullulate over $ 100 million to set up dreary stores across many Amerindic city .
But fast - onwards a span of years , shoppers have render to a lot of their pre - pandemic purchasing habit , include shopping more in person themselves . Amid a drop-off in demand , a number of instant speech businesses have fight to find strong unit economic science around their model across all marketplace .
Dunzo had reportedly been looking toraise $ 50 million in 2023 , although it ’s not clear if that round ever fully completed . Financial service startup PhonePe , which separated from Flipkart in late 2022 , alsoexplored an investiture in Dunzo , Native American daily Economic Times reported in December . PhonePe last year entered the e - commerce categorywith the launch of an app called Pincode .
“ In India , Flipkart ’s growth remain to combine in the double digit , while PhonePe is now processing more than 6 billion monthly minutes and has reached 1.4 trillion in annual total requital loudness , about 40 % high than 1 year ago , ” John David Rainey , executive VP and CFO of Walmart said Tuesday on the company ’s earnings call .
Flipkart did n’t right away respond to a petition for input Tuesday evening .
