Food delivery startup Thrive to shut down operations amid intense competition
The company, which is backed by Coca Cola and Jubilant FoodWorks, has decided to shut down the operations of its consumer app and transition its ONDC and marketing suite segments to industry partners.
Food delivery startup Thrive is shutting down the operations of its consumer app after four years amid intense competition from well-funded startups in the food tech space.
The Mumbai-based company’s Co-founder Krishi Fagwani shared on LinkedIn that the company has made the "difficult decision" to shut down the operations of the Thrive Consumer App (currently live in Mumbai) and is working to transition its Thrive ONDC, Thrive Direct, and the Thrive Marketing Suite segments to the "right industry partners".
Fagwani also added that there will be no disruptions in payments, tax compliances and reporting or invoicing.
“To our restaurant partners, customers, investors, and team: thank you for placing your trust in us. It has been an honour to serve this mission together, and I remain immensely proud of what we’ve built,” the post read.
In 2021, Jubilant Foodworks, which operates a line of global food chains in India including Domino’s and Popeyes, acquired a 35% stake in Thrive. Following this, in 2023, Coca Cola acquired a 15% stake in Thrive.
The company, in the post, has also hinted that the company struggled to survive amidst rising competition in the food tech space.
The food tech space is primarily dominated by Zomato and the recently listed Swiggy. The companies managed to tide over the pandemic with strategic acquisitions and by changing business models. Both of them have also entered the quick commerce race.
“The reality is that the current marketplace remains dominated by a few well-funded giants, making it extraordinarily challenging for smaller, mission-driven platforms like ours to flourish at the scale restaurants deserve,” the post read.
Thrive had raised $2.5 million in equity funding across three rounds, according to data website Tracxn. It reported a marginal rise in FY23 revenue at Rs 2.5 crore, compared to Rs 2.3 crore in the previous year. However, its net losses widened to Rs 7.4 crore compared to Rs 2.8 crore in the year before.
Edited by Swetha Kannan