Reliance Retail has decided to write off, or cancel, its big investment of ₹1,645 crore in Dunzo. This means Reliance no longer expects to get that money back from Dunzo. The decision marks the end of their business partnership, which started with a lot of hope, but did not go as planned.

Reliance put in almost $200 million into Dunzo in 2022. The plan was to use Dunzo’s delivery service and Reliance’s huge network of stores to make quick deliveries easy for people in Indian cities. Both companies were excited about the idea.

Very soon, Dunzo ran into serious problems. Many strong companies like Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart were already in the market, trying to do the same thing. The competition was very tough. Dunzo spent a lot of money trying to keep up on advertising, big sports events, and opening in new cities. Sometimes, their monthly spending was more than ₹100 crore, which was too high for a startup.

Dunzo raised money from other investors as well, including Google. But their “Dunzo Daily” fast delivery service did not become popular outside a few big cities. By late 2024, Dunzo was running out of money and had to cut its staff and slow down business. Reliance also decided not to put in more money. Finally, the Dunzo app went offline in early 2025.

As the company struggled, many top leaders and co-founders left Dunzo. The last CEO, Kabeer Biswas, also moved on to a job at another company.

Reliance’s loss here is one of the biggest write-offs ever seen in Indian startups. This shows that even big money from powerful companies does not always guarantee success in India’s crowded and tough online delivery market.

Reliance may have ended this partnership, but the company is still looking for new ways to grow. Dunzo’s story is an example of how fast business can change and how hard it can be to survive in the startup world, no matter how much you start with.

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