Grocery delivery start-up Voly has officially announced its closure, a week after stopping deliveries and deleting its social media accounts.
The move comes just over a year after the company raised a record $18 million in seed funding, with co-founder Thibault Henry announcing the closure via an email to customers and a personal LinkedIn post.
“I am deeply saddened to announce that Voly has stopped operating in Australia. The sudden changes in macro environment, unstable geopolitics and high inflation have made it extremely difficult to attract new capital despite the support of our current investors. Without enough runway to reach profitability we had to make the difficult decision to stop operating,” stated Henry on LinkedIn.
The closure comes hot on the heels of Deliveroo entering administration and ceasing Australian operations.
Unlike other delivery services, Voly did not rely on the gig economy, instead employing its own riders, distribution centre and store staff, but were forced to let go of half its employees when its Manly, Maroubra, Crows Nest, and Alexandria warehouses were closed in June.
In the LinkedIn post, Henry thanked all those involved, including co-founder Mark Heath, and said the past 18 months were full of “hard work, passion, hope, tears, ups and downs, laughs and fun!”. “Thank you to the entire Voly Family! It has been an absolute pleasure to work alongside you all. You should be bloody proud of what you have achieved! You are all extremely talented and amazing human beings! We had something special. Something different. Something incredible.
“Thank you to the 80,000 Sydneysiders who trusted us with their groceries. We did our best to delight you every day and it was a privilege to serve you.
“Thank you to our trusted investors. You guys always showed us amazing mentorship and support during this wild ride!”
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