 "Dunzo co-founder Mukund Jha in talks to raise Rs 50-80 cr for new startup")
Mukund Jha, co-founder and former chief technology officer of Dunzo, is in discussions to secure funding between Rs 50-80 crore (approximately $6-10 million) from Together Fund for his new venture, according to a report by Moneycontrol.
Jha is focusing on building a generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) company aimed at automating quality assurance (QA) processes for businesses. This new venture intends to streamline the QA process, which involves creating and running tests, identifying errors, and providing feedback to ensure products meet quality standards.
In addition to the Together Fund, Jha had engaged with Y Combinator, although the current status of those talks remains unclear. Jha brings considerable experience to his new venture, having worked at Google in New York and co-founding companies like Wisdom.ly, a group video platform for virtual meetups, and Habet, an intelligent goal-tracking platform.
This fundraising effort follows Jha’s departure from the financially strained hyperlocal delivery company Dunzo in October 2023.
Meanwhile, Dunzo, which Jha co-founded and served from 2015 until 2023, continues to struggle with funding and operational challenges. The hyperlocal delivery startup, backed by Reliance Retail, has faced stiff competition from companies like Zepto, Swiggy, and BlinkIt. Despite raising approximately $500 million, Dunzo has had difficulty securing further investment and maintaining payroll. In February speculations arose that Flipkart may be looking to acquire the platform, however, there has been no development on the matter since.
Together Fund, established in 2021 by Freshworks’ Girish Mathrubootham, Eka Software’s Manav Garg, and Shubham Gupta (formerly of Matrix Partners India), has raised $150 million in its second fund announced in 2023. The fund has invested in over 20 companies, including DhiWise, SpendFlo, SecureDen, and TopLyne, spanning horizontal SaaS applications, vertical SaaS in healthcare, and new categories like cloud for connected devices. It is India’s first operator-led venture capital firm founded to empower India’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) entrepreneurs.