Will Hyperlocal Delivery Come Into Its Own This Time?

After seeing several shutdowns a few years ago, the hyperlocal space is abuzz with activity once again with players such as Swiggy and Dunzo expanding their roster of services as funding pours into the space. Will hyperlocal delivery come into its own this time?

- Arnika Thakur and Debojyoti Ghosh

What do you do when you have a splitting headache that won’t let you sleep and no Disprin tablets at home, or a sudden craving for chocolate-filled doughnuts, or your laundry has to be picked up? No problem. There are startups that run all such errands and deliver or ferry everything from parcels, food, medicines, and grocery to documents.

Hyperlocal delivery startups are increasingly developing an appetite for the country’s busy urban population which is willing to pay a price for the convenience of getting things delivered at their doorstep.

For a business environment which allows competition to pop up, and thrive, at a moment’s notice, sometimes unique competitive advantages do not remain so for too long. Do what the competition is doing, and do it right. That’s exactly what is happening in the hyperlocal space today. Be it delivery service provider Dunzo, food-tech player Swiggy, or online grocery stores bigbasket and Grofers, all of them seem to be betting big on doing things right.

A recent report by EY and the Indian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (IVCA) says the private equity (PE)/VC interest in hyperlocal delivery was revived with Google’s undisclosed investment in Dunzo. For Internet giant Google, Bengaluru-based Dunzo is its first direct investment in an Indian startup.