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Google Makes First Direct Investment In India, Backs Indian Hyperlocal Services App Dunzo

The deal is Google’s first direct investment in an Indian startup and seventh direct investment globally.

An employee pushes a shopping basket (Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg)
An employee pushes a shopping basket (Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg)

Hyperlocal services app Dunzo raised $12 million in a fresh funding round led by global search engine giant Google.

Existing investors such as Blume Ventures and Aspada also participated in the round, documents filed with Registrar of Companies showed. Google pumped in Rs 64.58 crore as part of Series B funding, Aspada infused Rs 12.5 crore while Blume Ventures put in Rs 3.75 crore into the company, the documents showed.

The deal is Google’s first direct investment in an Indian startup and seventh direct investment globally.

The Bengaluru-based startup allows users to order just about anything from its app – food from the restaurant, ordering medicine or grocery or providing home pick and drop services with the help of chat-based task management platform. Once the user creates errands on the app, the platform charges a delivery fee on it.

Dunzo uses artificial intelligence on the backend and identifies local riders based on location.

The tech giant which typically invests through its venture capital arms GV for early-stage deals and CapitalG for late stage deals.