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· Posted on
February 21, 2024

Voly is backtracking, just like the rest of the instant groceries industry

Grocery delivery companies have copped a bit of a beating lately, and now the downturn's caught up with Voly.

What's the key learning?

  • Voly is an instant grocery delivery company that raised around $18 million in investment as of February 2022
  • As the industry takes a turn, Voly's had to back off its growth plans, laying off staff and extending its delivery time to 20 minutes
  • VC firms have invested millions in startups and pushed a growth at all costs attitude, but that mindset is changing.

👉 Background: Voly is another instant grocery delivery company that launched in Sydney in the middle of last year. As of February this year, it had raised around $18 million in investment.

👉 What happened: Grocery delivery companies have copped a bit of a beating lately. We had Australia’s Quicko and Send collapse, and Europe's Gorillas laid off half its workforce. The downturn's now caught up with Voly.

👉 What else: Voly's had to back off its growth plans, laying off staff, shutting warehouses, and extending its delivery time to 20 minutes. It seems venture capital-backed businesses are shifting away from 'growth at all costs' mindsets.

What's the key learning?

💡When a company receives investment from a venture capital (VC) firm, there are often new expectations around the business’ expansion and growth.

💡Often, VC firms have invested millions in startups and pushed a growth at all costs attitude, with a view to raise more money in 6-12 months at a higher valuation. That means:

  • Hiring quickly
  • Acquiring customers quickly
  • Burning through money quickly.

💡But as the tech industry experiences one of its biggest downturns since the dot-com bubble or GFC, cheap capital ain’t so easy to come by. So now the ‘growth at all costs’ mindset might be out... And a path to genuine profitability is in.

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