Another Dunzo co-founder set to exit start-up
Mukund Jha, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the on-demand delivery start-up Dunzo, is rumored to be leaving the company soon. Sources told Moneycontrol that he has already stepped back from daily operations, with an official announcement expected in the coming weeks. This comes a day after it was reported that co-founder Dalvir Suri was exiting the cash-strapped start-up.
Dunzo denies Jha's exit
However, a Dunzo spokesperson has denied Jha's exit, stating he remains a vital part of the leadership team. "Mukund remains an integral part of Dunzo's leadership team. While we are restructuring the organisation with leaders driving key mandates, Mukund will continue to be an important part of the strategic leadership team guiding and directing Dunzo's future roadmap," a Dunzo spokesperson told Moneycontrol.
Board reshuffling and ownership status
Jha exited Dunzo's board on September 1, per The Morning Context. This was preceded by the departures of co-founder Suri, Vaidhehi Ravindran from Lightrock, and Rajendra Kamath and Ashwin Khasgiwala from Reliance Retail in August. At present, only CEO Kabeer Biswas, Siddharth Talwar from Lightbox, and Hongjim Kim from STIC Investments remain on the board. Interestingly, co-founders Jha, Suri, and Ankur Aggarwal do not have ownership in Dunzo and only receive salaries and employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs).
Dunzo's fundraising and cost-cutting measures
Dunzo is currently working on raising $25-30 million to keep operations running, with Reliance Retail expected to up its stake in the company. In anticipation of this fundraising effort, Dunzo has significantly cut costs by shutting down dark stores and laying off over 500 employees. Jha played a key role in conveying these layoffs and salary delays to staff through company-wide townhalls and discussions.
Investments and shareholder stakes
Since launching in 2015, Dunzo has raised nearly $500 million from investors such as Reliance, Google, Lightrock, Lightbox, Blume Ventures, and others. Reliance is the largest shareholder with a 25.8% stake in the company, while Google is the second-largest with around 19% ownership. CEO Kabeer Biswas is the only co-founder with a stake in Dunzo, owning about 3.6% of the company.
