The company is experiencing a crisis and is trying to raise enough money to get through the year
Honestbee, the grocery-delivery startup that is navigating choppy waters, has fired CEO Joel Sng, as reported by TechCrunch.
The exit of Sng means the only remaining Co-founder is Jonathan Low, who is in the engineering department. It is not immediately clear who will take over from Sng.
A strange quirk of Honestbee was that Joel Sng was also a Partner at Formation8, the company that lead its US$15 million investment from a few years ago.
The Co-founder was let go amidst a full-blown crisis whereby they company shut down their operations in the Philippines, Indonesia and Hong Kong operations. They have also suspended food-delivery in Thailand.
The company plans to lay off about 10 per cent of its staff and was reportedly being pursued for a purchase by Grab. Honestbee had held acquisition talks with Grab, Go-Jek, and others in recent weeks.
Honestbee has had no issues raising money, having nabbed US$46 million over the past three years. But, TechCrunch reported a burn rate of US$6.5 million per month that appears to have come to a head this week.
The startup seems to be trying to raise enough money to get it through the year.
The future of Honestbee seems to be an offline supermarket, a futuristic store that integrates technology into an offline grocery experience.
Also Read: Honestbee halts local operation in the Philippines
TechCrunch previously reported that Honestbee was struggling to pay suppliers and was experiencing payroll delays. The article also stated that executives within the company were leaving.
Honestbee released a generic statement about their current struggles but has mostly refused to comment to media questions about the company’s future.
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