Milkrun to Close Doors, All Staff Made Redundant

wetsandwich on 11/04/2023 - 14:26
Last edited 11/04/2023 - 15:09 by 1 other user

Sorry for paywall article, I'm not down with the crazy kids and their bypassing of those.

MilkRun to close doors, all staff made redundant

Ultrafast delivery company MilkRun will close its doors and make all staff and riders redundant, marking an abrupt end for the company which raised one of the biggest early-stage rounds in Australian venture capital history.

The company’s founder, Dany Milham, told staff MilkRun would be shutting down by the end of the week, blaming worsening economic conditions, in an email seen by this masthead on Tuesday.

Interesting as they never seemed viable, having to compete with UberEATS and supermarket delivery services. I used them a few times for the discount codes, but it never seemed worth paying full inflated price + all the delivery fees just to have things in 10 mins.

Food & Grocery

Related Stores

MILKRUN (Powered by Woolworths)
MILKRUN (Powered by Woolworths)

Comments

    • wetsandwich on 11/04/2023 - 21:50
      +1

      grab a bike and ride to the shop!

    • TimApple on 12/04/2023 - 13:42

      Found the Gen Z.

  • johnwinkle on 11/04/2023 - 22:38

    86 million dollars gone in a year. wow!

    • coffeeinmyveins on 12/04/2023 - 09:04

      Didn't help that they paid their riders an actual wage they could live off. They also had 400 employees, tech people would be 150-300k and all the advertising etc. It goes quickly.

      • wetsandwich on 12/04/2023 - 10:37

        Which just shows us how all the piecemeal gig companies like doordash and ubereats are completely unsustainable when legislation ever catches up to them - scary?

        • coffeeinmyveins on 12/04/2023 - 13:55
          +3

          Not really because we existed before UE and DD and we will exist afterward. They're a scourge on our communities, sucking money out of restaurants and underpaying staff.

      • TimApple on 12/04/2023 - 13:42

        $60 million on people's salary per year basically.

  • Willy Beamish on 12/04/2023 - 00:13
    +2

    Almost like I called it exactly.

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/12842259/redir

    • coffeeinmyveins on 12/04/2023 - 09:05
      -1

      "Dead within 2 years easily."

      Hardly a "I told you so" when it's an extremely volatile start up in an economic down turn and you use a timeframe where 99% of startups tend to fail.

      • Nillionaire on 12/04/2023 - 12:23

        It is a valid "I told you so" because take a look at @ilovefullprice's replies

        • coffeeinmyveins on 12/04/2023 - 13:57

          who? what?

          • Nillionaire on 12/04/2023 - 13:59

            @coffeeinmyveins: Did you read the thread Willy linked?

            • coffeeinmyveins on 12/04/2023 - 15:14

              @Nillionaire: Right, I don't see anything wrong with their replies, especially things like this

              : Agree, as users, we should be championing them because they bring competition to the market.

              Which I completely agree with. MilkRun collapsing may have been relatively predictable (and I would have agreed even 6 months ago that they'd go bust) but it's not a good thing for us as consumers.

    • Homr on 12/04/2023 - 09:58

      lol, wheres @ilovefullprice now?

      • Nillionaire on 12/04/2023 - 12:17

        Still online, no comment on this thread yet

    • TightAl on 12/04/2023 - 10:32
      -1

      You're no oracle.

      Milkrun grocery delivery app drops 10 minute pledge to …

      Sydney Morning Herald
      https://www.smh.com.au › … › Start-ups
      27 June 2022 — Leaked investor pitch documents show how buzzy delivery app Milkrun is losing money on orders and trying to raise fresh funding.

      • Nillionaire on 12/04/2023 - 12:20
        +1

        The point isn't them being an oracle. It's a flex on @ilovefullprice who started going at Willy in a silly way for simply expressing that they don't think the company will last wrong.

  • THICKnSLOW on 12/04/2023 - 08:55

    My PA told me about this when our head chef informed her that he couldn't order the black truffles and escargot for the lunch he was making me yesterday. How inconvenient.

  • smartazz104 on 12/04/2023 - 11:23

    Aged like milk.

  • gromit on 12/04/2023 - 11:36
    +2

    None of them are sustainable at this point, they are in a battle of last man standing, once the majority have died prices will go up across the board.

  • Nillionaire on 12/04/2023 - 12:14

    lol who invested in a startup competing with:

    • UberEats, DoorDash, Menulog
    • Woolies Metro60, Coles Plus
    • Amazon Prime
  • zanyspace on 12/04/2023 - 12:43

    Still, a few more bargains to be had on the app at the moment - it looks like there is up to 50% off everything - closing down sale.

    One more milk before it runs away

  • virhlpool on 12/04/2023 - 13:40

    A clear symptom of the free or cheap money during Covid times!! And people still expect the real estate market to sustain at the current levels when it was driven up with the same cheap money for the last three years. Just a common sense, ay..

  • techlead on 12/04/2023 - 13:58

    I knew this was never going to last

  • infinite on 12/04/2023 - 22:17

    You'd need to be a special kind of touched to be even remotely surprised they bombed as a business.

  • Look Up on 12/04/2023 - 22:33

    Tiger Global Management
    AirTree Ventures
    Skip Capital
    Grok Ventures

  • 2esc on 12/04/2023 - 23:20
    +2

    The long term viability of companies like Uber eats is not strong at least not solely in the current format. How many years before a company like Uber eats ceases to operate is the question 4 years? optimistically 10.

    Only time will tell i have never used these companies and never will. Being judgemental here but if you use these companies your either got too much money or are too lazy to go to the shop.

  • p1 ama on 13/04/2023 - 01:29

    It just exposes the reality of the "food delivery" market.

    People around here love to paint Uber as "evil", but there is just no real other way to make it work. The amount of money people are willing to pay for delivery services and the level of skill required to be a delivery driver / rider just make it such that the industry is extremely thin margin even paying the drivers / riders next to nothing. The only way to win is through volume. The only reason Coles / Woolies can do it is because their locations basically make it such that they have a distribution centre within a few km of 99% of their customers.

    I hope this kills the "Uber is unethical / evil" line for good. Either we regulate the industry out of existence, or "it is what it is". Being a delivery rider / driver is an extremely low skill job - you just need to know how to ride a bike or drive a car. It's nowhere near the complexity of working in hospitality, stacking shelves at a supermarket, or cleaning.

    • gromit on 13/04/2023 - 18:04
      +2

      Uber Eats LOSES money, I would firmly place it in the evil category as their goal is to have others go broke so they are the last man standing where upon they will have to significantly increase prices or cut massively their costs. Current forecasts have them losing money on every order for at least 5 more years. It is all very anti consumer behaviour.

  • umoddbro on 13/04/2023 - 01:53
    +1

    If you look into their business plan you could tell they weren't going to last long… aggressive marketing and just like any new startups these days they build a big customer base by being a loss leader in hopes of getting taken over by an established company and when that doesn't happen just go into administration. Rinse and repeat.

  • Southoz on 13/04/2023 - 09:08

    What's next to go bust? Cake walk?

  • Desertsyd on 13/04/2023 - 09:50

    wonder if there be a firesale on their branded bicycles

    • Horacio on 13/04/2023 - 10:15

      wondering the same.. maybe they'll knock them down to the staff

      • Desertsyd on 13/04/2023 - 15:57

        ahh dang,
        bikes were rented off zoomo

  • Logical on 13/04/2023 - 15:44

    Finally

  • justgooddeals on 13/04/2023 - 20:02

    Udderly predictable. Bull-sheet mis-management . Surprised they didn’t blow moooo money..
    Herd they were closing down last week.

  • MrTruffle on 13/04/2023 - 22:28

    Spare a thought for the poor VC who had their name attached to this.

    https://www.afr.com/wealth/investing/milkrun-financier-i-am-…

    Its OK all they wanted was to be respected. The 400 who lost their job have failed to deliver on that respect

    https://twitter.com/VullinghsJ/status/1646454683870035969?t=…

    Seriously though seems tone deaf to not even acknowledge the people who lost their jobs.

  • cookiecutter on 14/04/2023 - 09:25
    +2

    Read the below - it really puts it into perspective.

    https://www.linkedin.com/posts/scott-mendelsohn-25603415_mil…

  • Cluster on 14/04/2023 - 09:33

    Another company that ran well while investors were willing to set ever greater piles of money on fire. I feel for the employees, but the economy will be better off when these businesses no longer exist.

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