Latest news with #Dunzo
Mint
27-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Dunzo gets relief in one insolvency case as NCLT dismisses plea
Mumbai: The Bengaluru bench of the National Company Law Tribunal has dismissed an insolvency petition against e-commerce delivery startup Dunzo Digital Pvt. Ltd. The insolvency court was hearing an insolvency petition filed last year by one of the company's financial creditors—called Invoice Discounters of Dunzo Digital Pvt Ltd—for non-payment of dues. On Tuesday, an NCLT bench led by Justices Sunil Kumar Aggarwal and Radha Krishna Sreepada held that the insolvency petition was not maintainable and dismissed it. The bench had earlier deferred its verdict on the matter citing its inability to finalise a written order. The decision is significant as some of Dunzo's vendors including Google India and Facebook India and other creditors including Betterplace Safety Solutions and Velvin Packaging have filed insolvency petitions against the debt-laden e-commerce platform. According to an order dated 29 May 2024, Dunzo and its financial creditor Invoice Discounters of Dunzo Digital had sought time before the court stating that settlement talks were underway. The bench had directed that if the two parties couldn't reach a settlement, Dunzo was to file its reply to the insolvency petition within two weeks. During a later hearing, Invoice Discounters informed NCLT that the settlement talks had failed, following which the tribunal forfeited Dunzo's right to file its reply in the matter. The bankruptcy tribunal has pulled up the Bengaluru-based Dunzo on multiple occasions for failing to reach a settlement with its lenders. Dunzo owes Betterplace Safety Solutions about ₹ 4 crore, and Velvin Packaging about ₹ 2.5 crore, according to reports. Dunzo also owes about ₹ 11.4 crore to advertising partners and vendors, including Google India, Facebook India and Glance. Last year, Lightbox, a venture capital firm that held about a 11.1% stake in Dunzo gave up its board seat at the company. In January this year, Dunzo's co-founder and former chief executive Kabeer Biswas stepped down from his position to join e-commerce marketplace Flipkart.
Business Mayor
25-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
Samsung is dishing out free Galaxy S25 phones this month – how to get yours
The Galaxy S25 is, without doubt, one of the very best Android phones of the year but it's also pretty expensive. This device will set you back £799 but, in a surprise deal, Samsung is now dishing them out for free. Yes, you did read that correctly. Fans of these smartphones can grab one without paying anything for it thanks to a very enticing offer. SEE THE DEAL HERE Now, before you get too excited there is, of course, a pretty big catch as this free S25 is only available when buying one of Samsung's new premium TVs. That said, if you were already thinking about investing in an updated gogglebox, now is the time to do it. Along with the free S25 – which features a powerful processor, long battery life, great camera and Galaxy AI – there's also 20 percent off the price of 2025 TVs using the code SPRING. That's not all. Samsung will even give you up to £500 cash back when you purchase certain models. Here are some of the deals available now Samsung 65-inch Neo QLED QN800DPRICE: £2,599DEAL: Get a free S25, 20% plus cash back SEE THE OFFER HERE Samsung 65-inch Neo QLED QN800DPRICE: £2,599DEAL: Get a free S25, 20% plus cash back SEE THE OFFER HERE Samsung 65-inch Neo QLED QN900FPRICE: £3,399DEAL: Get a free S25, 20% plus cash back SEE THE OFFER HERE Samsung 85-inch Neo QLED QN990F 8KPRICE: £4,999DEAL: Get a free S25, 20% plus cash back SEE THE OFFER HERE Read More Dunzo to undertake further layoffs as cash flow crisis deepens All of these new screens get improved picture quality, better sound, faster processors and the ability to upscale lower resolution content. Some also come with glare-free panels, a wireless box which gets rid of the clutter of cables and a remote that is powered by the sun. They are also better for gamers and even reduce motion blur when watching the weekend's football action. Of course, even with the deals and free phone, these are very expensive TVs. If it all sounds too much then there are plenty of cheaper offers from other retailers with Amazon currently selling its Fire TV for under £170 and Argos dishing out displays for less than £200. READ SOURCE businessmayor May 24, 2025
Mint
23-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Flipkart on track to open 800 dark stores by December as quick commerce booms
Bengaluru/Delhi: Flipkart Minutes, the quick commerce arm of the Walmart-backed e-commerce giant Flipkart, is experiencing a surge in demand, with order volumes doubling nearly every 45 days. This rapid growth is fuelling optimism for the service's ambitious expansion plans, which aim to increase its network of dark stores to 800 by the end of 2025, doubling from the current 400, the company's top executives told Mint. Also Read | As Kabeer Biswas jumps to Flipkart, no resolution yet in sight for Dunzo Currently operating in 17 cities across India, Flipkart Minutes is focusing on deepening its reach within its top-performing urban centres by extending its service to more pin codes. The firm—which entered quick commerce much later than its peers—will continue expanding aggressively to catch up with its rivals and grab a share of the growing market. Also Read | Quick medicine delivery: Startups gear up against giants Flipkart and Swiggy 'We'll go where the customer is. We have built everything from the sustainability perspective and we are very committed to [delivering in] 10 minutes as well," Kanchan Mishra, vice-president at Flipkart, said in an interview. Minutes has helped improve Flipkart's overall customer retention with a larger number of people now transacting on the platform more frequently. 'What we have seen is quick commerce has enabled us to grow our pie in certain categories. We are able to bring customers back more often, and we are able to make our customers buy a much wider set of products from the platform. So it's been adding to the retention of our customer base, adding to the spend per customer on the platform and adding to the transaction per customer on the platform." According to Mishra, nearly 40% of Flipkart Minutes' users make a repeat purchase every two weeks. Flipkart launched Minutes in August 2024 in select pockets of Bengaluru, much after its competitors Swiggy Instamart, Zomato-owned Blinkit, and Zepto. Entering late in the game, Flipkart had lots to catch up on—right from setting up dark stores to matching delivery speed. Quick commerce is projected to grow at over 40% annually through 2030, driven by expansion across categories, geographies, and customer segments, per a report by Bain & Co. While quick commerce began with grocery, 15–20% of its gross merchandise value now comes from categories such as general merchandise, mobile phones, electronics, and apparel. Over two-thirds of all e-grocery orders and a tenth of overall e-retail dollars are being spent on these platforms. To be sure, India's e-retail market touched $60 billion in 2024, per March 2025 estimates by Bain & Co. Meanwhile, quick-commerce gross merchandise value touched $6-7 billion in 2024, with over 20 million annual active shoppers. 'The need for speed for our customers is very evident. We have seen that quick commerce has helped bring in customers more often and enable them to buy a much wider set of products from the platform. It has been adding to the retention and spends per customer," Mishra said. 'Quick commerce is all about building on strengths. Building the hyperlocal and daily essentials business are the two the key things to focus on. And this is an extremely execution-heavy business," said Kabeer Biswas, the newly-appointed head of Flipkart Minutes. Daily essentials account for 90% of Minutes' transactions, while large-ticket items like electronics and beauty and personal care products dominate in terms of order values, Mishra said. Flipkart's quick commerce arm has also benefited from hyperlocal logistics that is now available in commoditized form in India, helping it move ahead despite making a late start compared to its quick commerce peers, Mishra added. 'With hyperlocal density, yes we have had a late start, but given that it is almost commoditized across the country, we have been able to build decent capacity," Mishra said. 'What we see has been playing is the strength of the platform that powers us. We have seen very strong synergies coming in from our shared supply chain and logistics network, where we share warehouses and the logistics network that powers Flipkart. We have seen very strong early adoption coming in from customers as well," Mishra noted. Quick commerce—characterized by high cash burn and unsustainable unit economics—typically requires consistent investment. While Flipkart will continue to infuse capital to expand the service, it doesn't seem to be much bothered about cash burn. 'What plays favourably for us is we have a massive base of customers already available to us that makes our cost of customer acquisition very, very efficient. We already have 75% of the supply chain investments deployed from the larger Flipkart business. That makes our journey to increasing our footprint a lot easier on the cost front. We also have a rich technology platform that's built and operating at scale, which makes go-to-market for us easier," Mishra added. Naturally, competition in quick commerce is heating up, prompting companies to bulk up investments in expanding dark stores and hiring more personnel to keep delivery timelines short. In the third quarter of FY25, Zomato said it will continue to accelerate Blinkit's expansion, burning cash to reach 2,000 dark stores a year ahead of target even as the quick-commerce business pulled down its profit. Net profit of Zomato (rebranded as Eternal) saw a sharp decline of 78% year-on-year (y-o-y) in January-March quarter to ₹39 crore, largely on account of the accelerated investments in its quick-commerce business Blinkit. Swiggy's net loss widened to ₹1,081 crore from ₹555 crore a year ago. Established companies such as Zepto, Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart are already sitting on thousands of dark stores. Blinkit crossed the 1,000 dark store milestone early this year. Rival Swiggy added over 300 dark stores for Instamart, its quick commerce service, taking its store count up to 1,021.
Entrepreneur
06-05-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Swiggy Shuts Down Genie to Focus on Core Services
Launched in April 2020, Swiggy Genie allowed users to send packages or pick up items within the city, competing with services like Uber Package, Porter, and Rapido. You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. Food and grocery delivery platform Swiggy has shut down Swiggy Genie, its hyperlocal delivery service, as it shifts focus to its main offerings—food delivery and quick commerce. According to a report by Moneycontrol, the company has decided to discontinue Genie, which had been unavailable in major cities for some time. Launched in April 2020, Swiggy Genie allowed users to send packages or pick up items within the city, competing with services like Uber Package, Porter, and Rapido. The service was operating in over 60 cities but never became a major revenue driver for Swiggy. "Genie was more of a side business, and with growing competition in quick commerce, we're now doubling down on Instamart," said a Swiggy spokesperson. Manoj Muthu Kumar, who was overseeing Genie as a Vice President at Swiggy, will now focus on other verticals within the company. The move mirrors the challenges faced by other players in the segment, including Dunzo, which had earlier scaled down operations significantly. Their retreat has opened the door for competitors like Uber and Rapido to expand their hyperlocal services. With the quick commerce space heating up—thanks to aggressive growth from Blinkit and Zepto—Swiggy is realigning its priorities to capture more market share in this space. Earlier this month, Inc42 had reported that Swiggy Genie was suspended, and now Moneycontrol confirms the service has been fully shut down.
