Metric The Instant Delivery Stats Key Players Getir, Gorillas, Gopuff, Flink Combined Funding >$14 Billion (2020–2022) Getir Valuation (Peak) $11.8 Billion (March 2022) Getir Valuation (Exit) Restructured; European
| Metric | The Instant Delivery Stats |
| Key Players | Getir, Gorillas, Gopuff, Flink |
| Combined Funding | >$14 Billion (2020–2022) |
| Getir Valuation (Peak) | $11.8 Billion (March 2022) |
| Getir Valuation (Exit) | Restructured; European exit in 2024. |
| Gorillas Valuation (Peak) | $3 Billion (September 2021) |
| Gorillas Exit | Sold to Getir for $1.2 Billion (Paper stock deal). |
| Cause of Death | Negative Unit Economics (Cost of delivery > Profit per order). |
In 2021, you could open an app in London, New York, or Berlin, tap a button, and order a single banana. Nine minutes later, a rider on an electric scooter would hand it to you. You paid $0.50 for the banana and $1.99 for delivery.
To the consumer, this was magic. It was the pinnacle of convenience. To the economist, it was an atrocity.
Behind that single banana was a network of “Dark Stores” (mini-warehouses on expensive high streets), a full-time rider on a salary, a picker packing the bag, and a marketing budget spending $100 to acquire you as a customer. The company lost perhaps $15 to deliver that $0.50 banana.
They called it the future of retail. In reality, it was a bonfire of venture capital. By 2024, Gorillas was sold in a fire sale, Getir retreated from the US and Europe, and the streets were littered with the ghosts of purple and yellow scooters.
This is the story of what happens when you try to use software valuations to subsidize logistics realities.
To the world, this looked like the next Uber. The premise was “Quick Commerce” (Q-Commerce). Supermarkets were too slow. Amazon Fresh was too clunky. The modern consumer wanted instant gratification.
Investors bought into the narrative of “Density.” The pitch went like this: “Sure, we lose money now. But once we have a dark store on every corner and 10,000 orders a day, the route density will make it profitable.”
It was a land grab. Getir (from Turkey), Gorillas (from Germany), and Gopuff (from the US) raced to sign leases in every major city. They burned cash on billboards, promo codes (“$20 off your first order”), and rider bonuses. At one point, Getir was valued at $11.8 billion—more than huge traditional retailers like Marks & Spencer or Sainsbury’s.
Inside the Dark Stores, the math was fighting a losing war against gravity.
Let’s break down the Unit Economics of a typical order (The “Contribution Margin”):
So, the company has $7.00 to play with. Now, subtract the fulfillment costs: 4. Picking & Packing: -$2.00 5. Rider Cost (Wages + Insurance + Bike): -$6.00 6. Payment Processing: -$0.50 7. Packaging/Waste: -$0.50
Net Result: -$2.00 per order.
And this doesn’t even include the Rent for the prime real estate dark stores, or the Marketing cost (CAC), or the massive HQ salaries. They were losing money on a variable basis. The more orders they got, the more money they lost.
In software, scaling fixes margins (server costs are low). In logistics, scaling stresses margins. More orders mean more riders, more bikes, and more insurance. There is no “Zero Marginal Cost” in delivery.
The Instant Delivery model was a child of ZIRP (Zero Interest Rate Policy). When interest rates were 0%, investors were happy to subsidize your $2.00 loss per order because they were chasing growth.
The music stopped in 2022. Inflation spiked. Interest rates rose. Energy costs (for the dark stores) soared. Investors suddenly demanded Profitability.
Getir and Gorillas tried to pivot. They raised delivery fees. They increased minimum order sizes. But here is the Elasticity Trap:
The “Need” for 15-minute delivery turned out to be a luxury, not a utility. It only worked when it was subsidized.
The failure wasn’t operations; it was Physics.
To make the math work, you need a high Average Order Value (AOV). If a customer orders $100 worth of stuff, the $7 delivery cost is absorbable. But you physically cannot carry $100 worth of groceries on a scooter. A scooter can carry 2-3 bags max. That limits the AOV to ~$30-$40.
The Real Cause: The form factor (scooters) limited the revenue, but the service promise (10 minutes) maximized the cost. They built a business model that was structurally capped on income but uncapped on expense.
This is a masterclass in “False Scalability.”
Just because you have an app doesn’t mean you are a software company. Getir was a grocery store with a very expensive delivery fleet. Grocery stores trade at 0.5x revenue. Tech companies trade at 10x.
There is a myth: “We lose money on every unit, but we make it up in volume.” This is mathematically impossible. If you lose $1 per order, 1 million orders means you lose $1 million.
Founders often overestimate how much people will pay for time. Yes, people value time. But do they value 15 minutes over 30 minutes enough to pay $10? No.
Are you building a Getir?
Reality Check: Turn off the marketing for a week. See who stays. That is your real business.
Reality Check: That is a service agency, not a startup. Don’t expect a venture valuation.
Reality Check: Hope is not a strategy. The unit math must work now.
The Instant Delivery crash is the ultimate reminder that Business is Math, not Magic.
You can have the best app, the coolest branding, and the fastest riders. But if Cost > Revenue, you will eventually die. Getir and Gorillas proved that you can burn billions of dollars trying to change human behavior, but you cannot change the cost of labor and real estate.
Innovation is not just doing things faster. Innovation is doing things economically.
The next time you have a “billion-dollar idea,” check the unit economics first.
