Abrupt closure of food delivery app after suite of lay-offs

Users of the grocery delivery app Voly have been left hanging at the online checkout after the company seemingly shut down without warning.

Australian online grocery delivery start-up Voly appears to have abruptly shut down, leaving customers trying to place orders completely in the dark.

The company, which raised $18 million in funding at the end of last year, suddenly began displaying a “closed until further notice” message to users of its app on Friday.

Social media accounts for the brand, including on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, have been closed down with no explanation.

The start-up’s most recent blog activity was in January, with its social accounts having not been active in several months.

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Voly is telling customers it’s closed until further notice.

More staff were laid off last week after the company sacked half its office staff in June and shut down its Sydney warehouses in Crows Nest, Manly, Maroubra and Alexandria.

While the brand sold itself on the promise of groceries delivered in 15 minutes or less, delivery times were extended to 20 minutes and plans to expand into Melbourne were paused indefinitely.

It was understood the sector was struggling to compete with supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles.

The start-up – founded by Mark Heath and Thibault Henry – delivered to about 42 suburbs.

The duo told staff earlier this year the business had enough funding to see it through until February 2023.

The company initially promised customers delivery in 15 minutes or less. Picture: Supplied

Mr Heath last week confirmed more staff had been let go, but he could not “comment further because we’re engaged in a couple of transactions”, the Australian Financial Review reported.

Voly’s trouble comes after the collapse of rival service, Send, which went into voluntary administration less than 12 months after launching.

An administrator’s report revealed the start-up had burned through a whopping $11 million in just eight months.

Another outfit called Quicko, which promised deliveries within two hours, also went under in mid-March.

Meanwhile, in June, the $75 million-backed grocery delivery start-up Milkrun sent out an astonishing email to customers apologising if they feel “let down” by it, which its CEO said could include late delivery or poor service.

Milkrun has since scaled back its delivery promises as it reported $13 loss per order.