Cash-strapped Dunzo says it is working towards achieving its first full profitable year in FY25

Amid a long-drawn liquidity crisis, Reliance Retail-backed convenience platform Dunzo is working towards having its first full profitable year in FY25, it told former employees in an email on Monday morning.

Adding that the firm is “on the precipice of turning the business profitable”, Dunzo noted that it hopes to expand the team as it doubles down on certain categories starting July 2024.

YourStory has seen the email.

Dunzo informed former employees—whose salaries for a few months plus full and final settlements have been on hold since July last year—that it will clear pending salaries and TDS payments in batches starting today. It expects to catch up on other pending liabilities using its limited cash flows over the next four weeks, according to the email.

The Kabeer Biswas-led startup added it is in the closing stages of certain “long-term cash flow plans”.

“We were of course attempting to settle all the dues in one go, but given the current situation, we will get them completed incrementally over the next few weeks. We are aware that this delay is difficult at your end and we are doing everything to go through all pending liabilities at the earliest,” it said.

Dunzo thanked the former employees for their patience and support as it navigated a difficult period over the last 12 months. “We are thankful for all your patience and support over the last few months. For folks whose amounts are getting settled, you will get proactive communication from our end. We also completely understand that you would want to know about the status of your pending amounts at the earliest, and we will try and get back to all queries promptly. But given we are stretched on bandwidth, we appreciate your patience in case we take longer to respond.”

YourStory has reached out to Dunzo for comments on the development. The story will be updated once the response comes in.

The on-demand delivery platform has delayed salary payments several times in the past, noting that it is gearing up to raise additional funding to fulfil payment obligations.

In January, the firm had informed employees that it is working on a long-term business plan to clear liabilities and repay pending salaries, and promised to provide a payment timeline by the end of the month after chalking out a solution.

In October last year, it assured that salaries for June and July along with final settlements would be paid by February 2024, along with an interest of 12% per annum based on the employee’s service period.

In December, several of Dunzo's partner stores including Easy Bazar and MK Retail went offline temporarily as the company delayed payments of grocery orders. They returned online in the same week after the dues were cleared.

Dunzo Co-founder Dalvir Suri stepped down from his role in October. Suri had helped the startup introduce new lines of businesses, including Dunzo Merchant Services (DMS).