Weekly rundown: RIL invests in Dunzo; Zupee, iD Fresh Food bag large VC rounds

On Jan 7, 2022

The year is off to a fast start for the startup ecosystem with oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance making a significant bet on the country’s hyperlocal quick commerce space.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Retail Ventures Limited led a $240 million growth round in hyperlocal delivery startup Dunzo. With an investment of $200 million, Reliance Retail will own a 25.8 per cent stake in the company on a fully diluted basis. The remaining amount came from returning investors Lightbox, Lightrock, 3L Capital and Alteria Capital.

Dunzo said it will utilize the capital to accelerate its vision to be the largest quick commerce business in the country, enabling instant delivery of essentials from a network of micro warehouses while also expanding its business-to-business (B2B) vertical to enable logistics for local merchants in Indian cities.

The concept of quick commerce has been attracting the most venture capital attention with Zepto doubling its valuation to $570 million within five months of launch and Zomato-backed Grofers rebanding to Blinkit to capture the momentum.

Meanwhile, skill-based casual gaming company Zupee secured a Series B funding round of $102 million and announced a strategic partnership with Reliance Jio. Mumbai-based investment firm Nepean Capital led the round with $72 million infusion. The round valued the startup at $600 million. WestCap Group, Tomales Bay Capital, Nepean Capital, AJ Capital, Matrix Partners India and Orios Venture Partners too participated in the round. The partnership with Reliance involves integration of Zupee products in Jio handsets which will reach Jio’s established 450 million userbase.

AI and Computer Vision platform Avataar and fast-food start-up iD Fresh Food raised significant VC rounds this week. Avataar secured $45 million in a Series B round of funding led by Tiger Global with co-participation from returning investor Sequoia Capital India while iD Fresh Food bagged about $68 million led by NewQuest Capital Partner and existing investor Premji Invest. Additionally, Bengaluru-headquartered full stack customer engagement start-up Exotel landed $40 million in a Series D funding round led by Steadview Capital.

Content-to-commerce unicorn Good Glamm Group has made two new acquisitions. The company has spun off a new creator subsidiary firm, Good Creator Co (GCC) with the help of Winkl and Voodyl — the firms that operate in the creator and influencer marketing space. The GCC will now have four companies under its ambit — Plixxo, Miss Malini Entertainment, Winkl and Vidooly. It had previously acquired POPxo, BabyChakra and ScoopWhoop.

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