Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance-backed Dunzo, which is currently battling with financial constraints, co-founder Dalvir Suri has exited the delivery startup. Additionally, the startup would undergo an organisation-wide restructuring from this quarter.
Announcing the development, CEO Kabeer Biswas, in an email to employees on October 1, said, “Dalvir has been instrumental in building out every new line of business at Dunzo … and the DMS business has very capable leadership that’s picking up directly after him.”
Suri’s exit comes amid Dunzo facing financial struggles
Dalvir Suri’s departure occurs amidst Dunzo’s ongoing struggle with financial challenges, as it also finds difficulty in securing sufficient capital to maintain its operations. Previously, reports suggested that Dunzo was in the process of raising $25-30 million in funding from investors, including Reliance Industries.
As it struggles to secure funding, the company has been unable to pay its employees on time. The quick-commerce startup delayed the payment of August salaries even further, despite promising to settle them by the first week of September.
In July, the company had promised its employees a 12% annual interest on their delayed salary and committed to clearing all dues by September 4. However, it failed to fulfill this commitment on time. Additionally, the company received legal notices from seven partner vendors over unpaid dues
Interestingly, Suri, along with co-founders Ankur Aggarwal and Mukund Jha, held no equity in the startup and were on a fixed salary, which has experienced delays on several occasions.
What was Suri’s role in Dunzo?
Suri joined as the co-founder in the early days of Dunzo. According to a report by ET, in recent weeks, Suri has been involved with Dunzo’s business-to-business delivery arm, Dunzo Merchant Services (DMS).
The business emerged as Dunzo’s primary business driver as the company scaled back consumer-facing operations across the seven geographies it previously operated in. Biswas said Suri had been instrumental in building every new line of business at Dunzo.
“He has been the key zero-to-one person from the founding team that just gets things done. He has been the key zero to one person from the founding team that just gets things Dun. Everyone of you has surely been touched by Dalvir’s ‘let’s do it attitude’. I / We will miss him a lot,” Biswas said.
Dunzo will follow organizational changes
Dunzo intends to address organizational alterations due to Suri’s departure in a company-wide meeting this week. It is still unclear who will take over Suri’s duties or how his exit will impact the company’s forthcoming strategies.
“We are doing some organisation-wide restructuring from this quarter and the DMS business has very capable leadership that’s picking up directly from him,” Biswas added.
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