Gorillas

What did it do?

Gorillas was a Berlin-based ultra-fast grocery delivery company; it delivered orders placed through its app from dark stores within the city, by bicycle courier, at supermarket prices. It sold more than 3,600 products, from fresh fruit and vegetables to drinks. Within a short time it had spread to dozens of cities, including Amsterdam, London, Paris, Munich and New York.

Why did it shut down?

After rapid expansion in its first two years, Gorillas failed to meet financial expectations. In 2022 it pulled out of Belgium, Italy and Spain, closed all its UK operations outside London and laid off 300 people. Founder Kağan Sümer had said at the start of 2022 that he was targeting $700 million in new funding; instead, in December 2022 the company was sold for $1.2 billion to its rival Getir, the Istanbul-based quick-commerce start-up. Getir also pulled Gorillas out of France in 2023, and in April 2024 announced that both brands were withdrawing from every market outside Turkey. Gorillas closed completely in May 2024.

The story

For Turkish readers, the end of this story was written with a familiar name. Gorillas, Berlin's ultra-fast grocery delivery start-up, was bought in December 2022 for $1.2 billion by its Istanbul-based rival Getir; a year and a half later it disappeared as Getir pulled out of its markets outside Turkey.

Gorillas was founded in Berlin in May 2020, in the first months of the pandemic, by Kağan Sümer, Jörg Kattner, Jeff Hester and Ronny Shibley. The model was inspired by goPuff, founded in Philadelphia in 2013: grocery orders placed through the app would be delivered from dark stores within the city by bicycle courier, at supermarket prices, within minutes. The company's slogan was 'faster than you'. A $44 million Series A arrived in December 2020 and a $290 million Series B in March 2021, and the company passed a $1 billion valuation around nine months after it was founded. In October 2021 a Series C of close to $1 billion lifted its valuation to $2.1 billion. Gorillas spread to dozens of cities, bought its French rival Frichti and grew to around 10,000 employees.

Speed came at a price. Couriers complained about inadequate equipment, heavy packages and pressure to deliver; in October 2021, 350 workers who joined a wildcat strike in Berlin were dismissed. After the rapid growth of its first two years, the company failed to meet financial expectations. In 2022 it pulled out of Belgium, Italy and Spain, closed its UK operations outside London and laid off 300 people. Sümer had said at the start of 2022 that he was targeting $700 million in new funding; instead, the company was sold to Getir at the end of the year.

In June 2023 Getir announced that Gorillas would withdraw from France. In April 2024 Getir and Gorillas announced that they were pulling out of every market outside Turkey. Gorillas closed completely in May 2024.

Gorillas shows how quickly a model built on a promise of speed can burn through capital when it scales before its unit economics work. Nor did the merger of two loss-making rivals solve the problem; it merely postponed the closure.

Lessons for founders

• A promise of delivery within minutes drives up the cost per order; reach profitable order density in a single warehouse before opening in a new city.
• Do not sacrifice couriers' working conditions to the pace of growth; strikes and mass dismissals do lasting damage to a brand.
• A merger of two loss-making rivals is not a solution in itself; before merging, be clear about which market the combined business will turn a profit in.

Sources

1. Gorillas (company) (Wikipedia)
2. Gorillas grabs 'close to' $1BN, Series C values the on-demand grocery delivery biz at $2.1BN (TechCrunch, 2021-10-19)
3. Berlin's Gorillas lays off 300, exits four markets (TechCrunch, 2022-05-24)
4. Turkish quick delivery company Getir to buy rival Gorillas in $1.2b deal (DealStreetAsia, 2022-12-09)
5. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q106866916
6. Wikipedia (Turkish)
7. Wikipedia (English)

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