Gorillas raised $1.3B, became Germany's fastest unicorn, and collapsed in four years

Gorillas was founded in Berlin in May 2020, at the height of the pandemic when ultrafast grocery delivery was surging. The concept was simple: deliver groceries in under 10 minutes from neighbourhood 'dark stores'. It raised $44 million in Series A (December 2020), $290 million in Series B (March 2021) — making it Germany's fastest unicorn at nine months old — and nearly $1 billion in Series C (October 2021) at a $2.1 billion valuation. Total funding reached $1.334 billion.

Gorillas expanded at breakneck speed across Europe and the United States, operating in roughly 35 cities across Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. At its peak it employed around 10,000 people. The growth was financed entirely by venture capital: each delivery cost more to fulfil than customers paid, and the company had no path to profitability at its current scale.

By mid-2022 the model was unravelling. Customer demand normalised as pandemic lockdowns ended, and the investor appetite for cash-burning delivery startups evaporated. In May 2022, Gorillas laid off 300 employees and exited Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Denmark, cancelling planned entries into Switzerland and Australia. In July 2023 it left France. Working conditions had drawn criticism throughout — riders reported inadequate equipment, pressure to deliver impossibly quickly, and incorrect pay. In October 2021, Gorillas fired 350 Berlin riders who participated in a wildcat strike.

In December 2022, Turkish rival Getir acquired Gorillas for $1.2 billion — a discount to the $2.1 billion peak valuation. Getir itself was struggling. In April 2024, Getir announced it was withdrawing from all markets outside Turkey. Gorillas shut down permanently in May 2024, less than four years after founding. All venture investors lost their money.

Gorillas raised $1.334B, peaked at $2.1B, and collapsed to zero in four years, as every delivery was subsidised by the next funding round until capital stopped.

Gorillas expanded as fast as capital allowed — dark stores, riders, marketing — without reaching unit profitability. Every delivery was subsidised by the next funding round

The pandemic created artificial demand for ultrafast delivery. When life normalised, order volumes fell but the fixed costs of dark stores and rider fleets did not

The 2022 venture-capital downturn cut off fresh funding just as Gorillas needed it most. The company had no path to self-sufficiency and no time to find one

Getir's acquisition in December 2022 was a lifeline that lasted 16 months. When Getir itself ran out of money, it shut everything outside Turkey — and Gorillas was gone

Ultrafast delivery is a high-cost model that works at certain densities. Growing fast enough to become a unicorn is not growing fast enough to survive — when capital stops, the model stops with it.

Getir, the Turkish competitor that acquired Gorillas in December 2022, withdrew from all markets outside Turkey in April 2024. Gorillas operations ceased in May 2024. The entire ultrafast grocery delivery sector contracted globally in 2023-2024.