Exclusive: Dunzo raises Rs 50 Cr debt from Blacksoil

Quick commerce startup Dunzo has raised Rs 50 crore or $6.2 million via debentures from Blacksoil India. The Bengaluru-based company has joined several growth-stage startups that have raised debt amid a funding winter when equity financing has dried up.

The board at Dunzo has passed a special resolution to allot 1,000 non-convertible debentures at an issue price of Rs 5,00,000 per debenture to raise to Rs 50 crore from Blacksoil, the company’s regulatory filing with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) shows.

Earlier this year, Dunzo scooped up $240 million led by Reliance Retail at around a $765 million valuation.

The debt funding has also come at a time when Dunzo is in the process of shutting down some of its dark stores across NCR and Hyderabad. The company also fired a few employees during the process. Entrackr was the first to report the development.

In August, Entrackr also reported that the Google-backed firm lost Rs 230 on each order it delivered during the first half of 2022 or H1 2022.

Dunzo has not been able to control its expenses and this can be observed from its annual financial statement for FY22. In the fiscal year (FY22), the company’s losses spiked 2X and crossed the Rs 460 crore mark. The revenue grew two-fold and stood at Rs 54 crore during the period.

Several growth and late-stage startups have raised funding via debt or through convertible notes over the past few months. Business-to-business e-commerce major Udaan raised $120 million in convertible notes and debt led by existing shareholders and bondholders. Byju’s also took a collateral-free loan of Rs 300 crore or $36.5 million from its wholly-owned subsidiary Aakash Educational Services Limited.

As per data compiled by Fintrackr, Rebel Foods, Reshamandi, Reevoy, Perfios, HomeLane, Epigamia, Ather Energy, and Mobikwik also raised debt funds this year.