The first profits were said to be in sight, but so far no buyer has been found for the Berlin delivery service Yababa. Now it is threatened with permanent closure.
The hopes that the troubled delivery service Yababa could be rescued were high. “Everyone involved is trying to get the company to continue,” said insolvency administrator Niklas Lütcke to Gründerszene at the beginning of February. But the search for a buyer has so far been unsuccessful, and the final bankruptcy is on the horizon. “Presumably business operations will have to be wound up,” said Lütcke via email. The process is to be officially opened in the coming days and the remaining assets such as software and warehouse accessories are to be sold. Another delivery startup is probably disappearing from the market.
Bet on unoccupied niche
Yababa started delivering oriental groceries within two hours at the end of 2021 – at a time when gorillas and nimbles served their customers much faster. Yababa later changed its time concept and only delivered one day after the order was received. Usually, this model burns less capital, since not only the need for groceries, but also the deliveries can be planned.
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Well-known VCs invested over 13 million euros in the Berlin startup and thus targeted a previously unoccupied niche. A new round of financing in early 2023 should fuel the growth of the online supermarket. Yababa was still optimistic in January and went on the PR offensive carelessly. But the investment failed at the last minute, as found out. As a result, founder and CEO Ralph Hage went to the district court: he filed for insolvency.
Yababa joins bankruptcy list
The company thus joins a whole list of delivery services that have been in crisis in recent months. First, in August 2022, the provider Fresh Post was hit, followed in February by Yababa and the Berlin provider Dropp, for which no buyer was found either. At the end of March, the eco-delivery service Alpacas also reported insolvency.
While the reasons vary from company to company, the root cause is the same in each case. The beginning of the Ukraine war combined with inflation and rising interest rates has put many startups in a precarious position. Investors have been unwilling to fund highly loss-making companies in recent months. This includes delivery services.