One month after announcing new funding, Zero Grocery says it has shut down.
The Fresno County-based startup raised a $12 million seed round on Feb. 3, and then on March 4, announced its closure in a Facebook post.
"Today is Zero’s last day. With great regret, effective immediately, Zero will be shutting its doors and stopping all further deliveries. How did this happen? Fundraising has always been the biggest battle we have faced. Unfortunately, it’s the battle we’ve lost," the Facebook post said next to an image that plainly declared "The End."
Grocery delivery is notoriously difficult, but founder Zuleyka Strasner had bold ambitions.
In February, Strasner said she wanted the company to become the "single behemoth of all sustainable shopping" in the US, and that the startup was on a path to profitability.
"We're already positive on every order, which is something that a lot of my competition cannot even say," Strasner told me at the time.
The company offered delivery in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and had 250 employees which included delivery drivers which Strasner told me were hired in-house and not as independent contractors.
Strasner founded the company in 2019 after honeymooning in the Corn Islands off the coast of Nicaragua where she noticed lots of plastic trash on the beaches. The company has raised $16 million to date, and its 2022 seed round was led by Sway Ventures.
Sway Ventures declined to comment.
Strasner confirmed via email that the company shut down.
"The customer interest was massive and growth was huge for us over these last few years," Strasner said. "But ultimately we could not sustain and fundraising was our big obstacle... My hope is that the investment community continues to invest in more products, services and a broad array of founders from diverse backgrounds who are at the cutting edge of creating a cleaner, better planet."
