Chennai-based hyperlocal delivery startup Genie Solutions Pvt. Ltd will shut operations from April after it failed to raise funds.
“We have been trying very hard to raise a round of funding to sustain operations and for growth. Over time, we courted a lot of investors who made a lot of promises, but none of them materialized,†Genie’s founders said in a Facebook post.
The founders said Genie’s last delivery will be on 31 March. The startup was launched in early 2015 by Sreekesh Krishnan, Rakesh Mani and Parth Shah.
Krishnan is a graduate in electronics engineering. Mani handled operations and human resources at Genie. Shah, a chartered accountant by profession, was responsible for finance.
Krishnan told VCCircle they had been trying to fund the startup on their own after raising its only external funding in October 2015 from Singapore-based stressed asset management group Wayne Burt Group.
Genie was essentially a “pick and drop†service, meaning it would deliver any product, Krishnan said. This included food items and groceries, too.
The Times of India was the first to report Genie’s planned shutdown.
Genie is the latest casualty in the hyperlocal delivery segment as investors turned cautious due partly to the lack of a sustainable business model at such startups. Over the past year-and-a-half several hyperlocal delivery startups, including well-funded ventures like PepperTap and LocalBanya, have shut shop.
Grocery delivery startups faced headwinds, too. A year ago, hyperlocal grocery and fresh food delivery startup Grofers India Pvt. Ltd had shut operations in nine cities.
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