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.