Mukesh Ambani, Isha Ambani backed startup unable to pay salaries again, read email to employees

Mukesh Ambani and Isha Ambani backed quick-grocery delivery provider Dunzo’s struggle continues as it is delaying salaries of former employees again. As per a report by Moneycontrol, the company has sent out a mail to former employees informing about the delay. Dunzo claims that it will now pay the salaries in the month of October. For those who do not know, Dunzo first promised to clear the dues by July 20 and later it set a new deadline of September 4. As the date nears, the cash strapped company has now extended the date by a month. Over the past few months, Dunzo has been in talks to raise money with a few new and existing investors including Reliance Retail.

“We sincerely apologize for this delay. Ensuring that you receive your due compensation as early as possible is our top priority. Please be assured that we are doing everything to make this happen, and we are confident that there will be no further delays after this,” the email from Dunzo reads.

Founded by Kabeer Biswas, Ankur Agarwal, Dalvir Suri and Mukund Jha in 2014, the startup raised several rounds of funding and got interest from giants like Google and Lightbox. Mukesh Ambani bought around 25% stake in Dunzo in January last year by investing almost Rs 1641 crore.

Dunzo has reportedly promised employees to pay an interest of 12% per annum on the salary component that it held back from June. ““Please note that pending salaries for the months of June and July, due to be paid on September 4, will be paid in the first week of October. You will receive the salary dues along with a 12 percent p.a. interest, which will now be calculated for an additional month," the email sent to former employees read.

Overall, Dunzo's outstanding vendor debts total approximately Rs 11.4 crore, nearly double of Rs 5-6 crore previously estimated.