What went wrong with Jokr

With a close look at Jokr's unit economics, as told by its CEO

‘Instant’ delivery startup Jokr is bowing out of the U.S. to focus on operations in Latin America. The company told customers in an email this week that its last day of deliveries in its two U.S. cities—New York City and Boston—would be Sunday June 19. Per Bloomberg, Jokr operated nine micro-fulfillment centers or ‘dark stores’ in New York and Boston, a fragment of the roughly 200 it runs worldwide. Jokr will also cut around 50 people from its 950-person office staff. “While we were able to build an amazing customer base (thank you!!) and lay the groundwork for a sustainable business in the US, the company has made the tough decision to exit the market during this period of global economic uncertainty,” Jokr said in its email.

Jokr’s U.S. exit comes just two months after it quietly left Europe, after failing to find a buyer for its operations there. The Information also reported in January that Jokr was looking to sell its New York business, where it faced heavy losses. Jokr is the latest entry in the instant delivery crash, which has seen at least four other players cut staff, slash spending, and exit markets in an effort to stem losses and refocus on profitability.

What went wrong for Jokr, and could it actually have a future in Latin America? In this subscriber-only edition of Oversharing, we go deep on Jokr’s origins and the instant delivery pitch; break down its unit economics in the U.S. vs. LatAm; and contextualize Jokr in the broader instant delivery landscape. Deep industry dives like this are available exclusively for paid subscribers. Lots of Oversharing readers at your company? Sign up at this link to purchase a group subscription for 20% off. More info on how group subscriptions work is available from Substack here.