SF Meal Delivery Startup Munchery Shuts Down, Laying off Hundreds of Workers | Eater SF

"A San Francisco–based meal delivery service that once raised more than $125 million at a $300 million valuation has shut down operations entirely and laid off hundreds of local workers immediately. Munchery announced via email that it is closing its doors effective immediately and that any outstanding orders will be canceled and refunded. Its final product was simple: meal kits and pre-made meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner priced roughly $9–$14, with a membership option ($9 monthly or $85 yearly) that offered 20% off. The nine-year-old startup expanded to New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle before contracting back to the Bay Area (by spring 2018); at one point in 2016 it produced far more meals than customers purchased, losing as much as $5 million a month in unsold meals, and in 2017—after taking funding from backers including Menlo Ventures and Sherpa Capital—it pulled back and laid off about 30% of its workers (roughly 250 people). Its collapse is the latest in a string of meal-delivery startups to fold, alongside companies such as Sprig, Spoonrocket, and Bento." - Caleb Pershan