Sayurbox Layoff 5% of Employees to Focus on Business Sustainability

Sayurbox, one of the startups online groceries which experienced significant growth during the pandemic, announced layoffs to 5% of its employees. Reported from IDN Times, Termination of Employee Relations (PHK) is carried out to maintain the continuity of the company's business.

"This difficult decision was unavoidable in order for the company to grow agile and being able to maintain growth rates so that it continues to have a positive impact on consumers, driver partners, thousands of farmers and local producers who work with us, and so that businesses can sustainable in the long term," said Sayurbox Co-Founder & CEO Amanda Susanti.

Sayurbox will provide a compensation package for employees affected by layoffs in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. His party will also provide a mentoring program so that employees affected by layoffs can have the opportunity to find new jobs.

One way is to provide access to companies that open job vacancies. Sayurbox opens access to Sayur Alumni Support where affected employees can post their CVs which will later be distributed to investors, partners and recruitment agency.

Sayurbox previously said it had experienced exponential growth through product additions, expanding coverage area from Jabodetabek to Surabaya and Bali, as well as building a micro warehouse network for fast service (quick commerce) Sayurbox and SayurKilat.

Sayurbox investment

In the last two years, Sayurbox has received a lot of funding from various investors. In April 2021, Sayurbox received series B funding led by AstraDigital, part of Astra International. Supported by a number of investors such as Syngenta Group Ventures, Global Brain Corporation, Ondine Capital, Strategic Year Holdings Ltd., and several other names.

Then, Sayurbox re-signed an investment agreement with PT Metrodata Electronics Tbk (IDX: MTDL) in September 2021. Metrodata will provide funding of $500 thousand or IDR 7 billion which is an initial investment for the Bridge Round stage in Sayurbox. Through this agreement, the company within a certain period of time will receive Sayurbox share ownership according to the percentage of shares based on regulated calculations.

In early 2022, Sayurbox announced it had acquired series C pendanaan funding worth $ 120 million or the equivalent of Rp. 1,7 trillion. This investment round was led by Northstar and Alpha JWC Ventures, with participation from the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Previously involved investors, including Astra, Syngenta Group Ventures, Global Brain, and several other investors.

Series C funding came less than a year after the $15 million Series B round led by Astra. This acquisition is called strengthening Sayurbox in the lineup centaur local with an estimated valuation of $200 million-$400 million at that time.

Ups and downs online groceries

Services online groceries has become one of the sectors that has benefited from the COVID-19 pandemic. During the social distancing period, service online groceries Many consumers use it to buy their daily needs.

However, popularity online groceries seems to have started to decline in line with the return of community activities outside the home since last year. Many consumers are returning to normal shopping at physical stores or traditional markets instead of continuing to take advantage online grocery.

Throughout 2022, DailySocial take notes a number of players who offer online groceries or quick commerce forced to give up and had to stop operations. Some of them are Onion which has now become online marketplace for electronics, service Traveloka Mart owned by Traveloka, and Bananas.

Previous, HappyFresh has also laid off its employees. This was forced by the company to carry out business restructuring in order to develop a sustainable business strategy.

As for, Indonesian Retailers Association (Aprindo) revealed that the contribution of sales from new online transactions reached 5%-6% of total sales in the retail sector in 2021. Showing that the sector niche as online groceries or quick commerce is still very small, moreover many of its operations are centered in big cities.

They also have to compete with players who are supported by the ecosystem supply chain leaders and strong logistics infrastructure to meet demand, such as GoMart (GoTo), AlloFresh (CT Corp), and Blibli Mart (Blibli). Not to mention the intense competition on price.