Dunzo—Collapsed in January 2025 leaving hundreds of workers, consultants, and vendors unpaid after laying off 75% of staff
Dunzo, Google's first direct Indian startup investment (2017), shut down in January 2025 after catastrophic mismanagement left hundreds unpaid. By late 2024, Dunzo laid off 75%+ of staff (from 800+ to ~50 employees). Valuation crashed from peak to ₹300 crore as Reliance wrote off ₹1,645 crore ($200M) investment. Over 400 employees went unpaid through multiple rounds of delayed salaries. Naveen Meka (supply lead, laid off) wrote WhatsApp messages 'begging for unpaid wages so he could pay his children's school fees, but nothing came of it.' One employee laid off August 2024 is owed 250,000 rupees ($2,860) and has merchants reaching out on LinkedIn asking about back pay. Workers arriving for regular shifts were stopped at factory gates by security and informed of closure. Preceded by 2022 Bengaluru strike over incentive structure changes. Demonstrates pattern: rapid expansion funded by venture capital, exploitation of gig workers, catastrophic collapse leaving workers to bear consequences.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate Governance | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Gig Worker Rights | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Worker Rights | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.313 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.50)× agency (negligent ×0.5)