- Getir, founded in Turkey in 2015, is valued at nearly $12 billion after its latest Series E round.
- The rapid-delivery startup operates in New York City, Boston, and Chicago.
- Its raise comes as the sector has seen the rapid demise of Buyk, 1520, and Fridge No More.
The delivery startup Getir just raised $768 million and is now a decacorn, or startup valued above $10 billion. The whole of the rapid-delivery industry, though, has seen the collapse of three players in less than four months, as well as a failed acquisition deal involving DoorDash.
The raise for the rapid-delivery operator Getir brought the company’s valuation to $11.8 billion. The company was founded in Turkey, operates in nine countries, and has 30 dark stores in the US after entering the country late last year. But, Getir’s growing war chest comes with experts questioning the profitability of delivering groceries in less than 15 minutes. Three US players have already fallen: Buyk, Fridge No More, and 1520.
The demise of these short-lived startups prompted industry watchers last week to predict venture-capital funding to dry up and more companies to fold.
Brittain Ladd, a retail consultant who follows the delivery industry, said Getir’s Series E round, led by Mubadala Investment Company, was probably a done deal long before Fridge No More ceased operations and Buyk filed for bankruptcy. He predicted Getir’s round to be the last big 2022 investment in the space unless the remaining players pivot their business model.
“All they can do is say, we can deliver groceries in 10 or 15 minutes,” Ladd said. “But if all they do is lose money on every order, that’s not a real company. That’s not a company that’s sustainable.”
One suggestion Ladd had was to “slow down.”
For Getir and other players to offer long-term value to investors and customers, Ladd suggested they instead brand around delivery times of 30 minutes to one hour, which can be automated inside microfulfillment centers. He said this would reduce the high labor costs of 15-minute deliveries while also offering consistency to consumers.
Analysts are predicting more rapid-delivery players to fail as they burn through cash to acquire customers.
“It just doesn’t make sense to try to invest money at that point,” a Gordon Haskett analyst, Robert Mollins, told Insider last week after Buyk and Fridge No more shutdown. “I would say Jokr would be the next one to either close up shop in the United States or try to sell itself. And in this market, I don’t see anyone really buying.”
In a statement, Getir’s cofounder and CEO, Nazim Salur, said the company would use the investment “to further develop our proposition and technology, as well as invest in our employees to continue to attract the best talent.”
In the US, Getir operates in Boston, New York City, and Chicago. It entered the US market in November, joining a fray of competitors including Gopuff, DoorDash, Gorillas, and Jokr.
In a previous interview, Salur told Insider said he was confident in the face of competition. “We know what we’re doing,” he said.
“We know how to run it, how to supply our products, how to build the campaigns, what works, what doesn’t, how to open the stores, how to run a shift, how to use AI, how to plan everything,” Salur told Insider.
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