Gopuff laid off about 2% of its workforce on Thursday, the latest move by the startup to save cash as venture capital funding dries up for the once-hot rapid delivery sector.
(Bloomberg) — Gopuff laid off about 2% of its workforce on Thursday, the latest move by the startup to save cash as venture capital funding dries up for the once-hot rapid delivery sector.
The Philadelphia-based company, whose formal name is GoBrands Inc., fired more than 100 employees, according to people familiar with the matter. The reductions affected operations departments including engineering and information technology, the people said, asking not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. Gopuff had about 10,000 total employees as of September.
A Gopuff spokeswoman declined to comment.
Gopuff first began scaling back headcount in the spring of last year. The job cuts continued over the summer when the company shuttered 12% of its warehouses across the US and slashed 10% of its global workforce to preserve cash. Â Â
Grocery delivery boomed during the pandemic with startups competing with each other and offering ever-faster deliveries to satiate consumers’ appetite for on-demand snacking and drinking. But with life returning to normal and a rise in inflation, delivery companies are struggling and the industry is retrenching. Instacart Inc. has delayed plans for an initial public offering and seen its valuation sharply reduced. Gopuff rivals like Fridge No More and Buyk went spiraling out of business; another, Jokr, withdrew from the US to focus on South America.Â
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.