Voly, one of the upstart companies that sprang up in the lockdown-era fast grocery delivery mania, has made fresh cuts to its workforce as it battles to survive in a market where cheap venture funding has dried up.
The start-up pulled the trigger on a round of lay-offs on Tuesday, according to two sources. Voly raised a large $18 million seed round last year from Sequoia Capital India, Global Founders Fun and Australian-based Artesian Capital.
Voly, founded by Thibault Henry (left) and Mark Heath, has had to make major lay-offs.
Media reports back in June said Voly had cut back its staff by half, and reached over the phone on Wednesday, its co-CEO Mark Heath declined to say whether the company was solvent or address questions about the ongoing viability of the business.
He confirmed there had been lay-offs, but said the company could not “comment further because we’re engaged in a couple of transactions”.
Australia’s most highly funded fast delivery start-up Milkrun has had to cut back on some of its most ambitious delivery speed promises, due to excessive cash burn this year, while two other rivals, Send and Quicko, have collapsed.
Voly’s pitch was that it would deliver groceries and party supplies to customers in Sydney’s inner city in under 15 minutes, using a network of urban warehouses and bike couriers.
It was a business model mimicking Milkrun and Send, as well as overseas operators like US-based GoPuff and Europe’s Gorillas.
Many of these so-called “ultrafast delivery” supermarkets saw explosive growth during the pandemic, with venture capital companies funnelling billions into the hands of the money-losing start-ups.
Mr Heath founded Voly alongside Thibault Henry in 2020 after previously working for Uber.
In 2019, he left the rideshare giant’s Sydney office to join start-up CloudKitchens – a company led by Uber founder Travis Kalanick which builds kitchens in urban areas dedicated to delivering takeaway meals.
When Voly announced its bumper seed round late last year, the start-up claimed its couriers delivered to more than 40 suburbs in Sydney. In January, Young Rich Lister and former Koala co-CEO Dany Milham raised $75 million for his delivery company Milkrun – one of the biggest cheques for an early-stage company in Australia.
Growth across the sector caught the eye of the biggest incumbents in the global food and delivery industry, which have set up their own speedy delivery services. Woolworths launched its 60-minutes delivery service called Metro60 in Melbourne in August.
But surging inflation and rising interest rates have seen investor appetite for the start-ups quickly turn sour. Venture funds, which pumped billions into the hands of entrepreneurs, have gone off the capital-intensive and cash-burning companies.
Liquidations, consolidation and frantic M&A have gripped the sector this year. Gorillas, Europe’s fastest growing start-up ever, recently held talks with its biggest competitor, Turkey-based Getir.
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