Dunzo Now Defers Employee Salaries To November, May Vacate Office Space

New Delhi: Homegrown quick-grocery delivery provider Dunzo has further delayed the salaries of its employees for the months of June and July, this time to November amid an ongoing fund crunch. The beleaguered startup may also vacate its office in Bengaluru to cut costs, according to its co-founder and CEO, Kabeer Biswas, who addressed employees in a town hall meeting on Friday.

Biswas reportedly told employees that their pending payouts for June and July will now be cleared in November. The company has put in place a new hybrid marketplace business model, “which is a combination of dark stores and partner stores," according to reports. ()

Earlier this month, Dunzo, which has been delaying salaries for its employees after being unable to raise funds, further delayed paying its staff and said to be doing it "batch-wise”. ()

The quick grocery delivery provider was supposed to start disbursing salaries from September 4.

"Due to certain procedural requirements, we have to do this batch-wise. It may take an additional day or two for us to facilitate this transfer for everyone," Dunzo told employees in an email.

Dunzo earlier delayed salaries to the first week of October after being unable to raise funds. It had also promised employees to pay an interest of 12 percent per annum on the salary component that it held back from June.

It was in advanced talks to raise between $80-100 million in its series G round from its existing investors, including Lightbox and Lightrock. Dunzo has raised about $500 million to date.