Because the Gorillas home shopping app is struggling
The Gorillas grocery delivery app is laying off half of the office staff at its Berlin office
Gorillas grocery delivery platform fired half of its employees at its Berlin location.
The German company said in a statement yesterday that it was firing about 300 employees from a "global office workforce" of 600. This workforce also includes about 14,400 employees who work in warehouses and as delivery drivers, The Verge points out.
At the same time, the company plans to focus more on five markets that account for 90% of its revenues: the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, France and the Netherlands. The company also operates in four other European markets – Spain, Denmark, Italy and Belgium – where it claims to "examine all possible strategic options for the Gorillas brand". This could mean withdrawing from these markets.
This is a major blow to Gorillas who raised nearly $ 1 billion at a pre-money valuation of around $ 3 billion last September, TechCrunch highlights.
All the details.
THE CUTTING OF WORKPLACES
The company will cut approximately 320 jobs, with a view to reducing costs and raising additional funds. The cuts will mainly affect staff at the Berlin headquarters and will account for roughly half of Gorillas' employees, many of whom have only been in the last six months.
THE STRATEGY OF GORILLAS
“While this was an extremely difficult decision to make, these are necessary moves that will help Gorillas become a stronger and more profitable business with a greater focus on its customers and brand,” Gorillas said in his statement. “With our current investments we are strengthening our position both financially and strategically for the future. We are extremely proud and grateful for what our teams have achieved over the past two years and will do everything we can to support our employees in this transition phase, ”he concluded.
WHAT IS GORILLAS
Gorillas became known in the super fast food delivery market last year. The company sells fresh produce and other items delivered from urban distribution centers to customers within 10 minutes. It is also one of the first European startups to launch into the industry and has grown to over 10,000 employees (including riders) and rapidly expanded across Europe, reports Sifted , a magazine hooked to the Financial Times .
Bloomberg wrote last year that "Gorillas is part of a fast food delivery services group that has gained popularity over the past year as people spent more time shopping at home during the coronavirus pandemic."
CHINESE TENCENT AMONG THE INVESTORS
It has raised $ 1.3 billion in VC funding so far, from big names like Tencent, DST Global, Coatue and Delivery Hero.
ARE DELIVERY APPS TOUGH TO GROW?
But in the wake of a global recession affecting the tech sector more broadly, it appears that some delivery apps that have struggled to grow may be in trouble, highlights The Verge. As of May this year, the Gorillas app was only downloaded 320,000 times, compared to 1.5 million downloads for Turkish rival Getir.
Additionally, some media reports suggest the company has been having trouble raising more funds.
A BUBBLE THAT IS DEFLATING?
Finally, TechCrunch points out that many observers believe that "the instant food market has long been considered overly inflated." There has been too much money lying around for too many startups. Investors were all trying to ride what appeared to be a wave of opportunities for fast delivery in the wake of consumer habits during Covid-19 ″.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia-on-demand/perche-lapp-per-la-spesa-a-domicilio-gorillas-arranca/ on Wed, 25 May 2022 05:35:17 +0000.