New York City-based food delivery startup Wonder has laid off approximately 175 employees, or 7% of its workforce, as the company redirects resources toward robotics and automation. The cuts come just weeks after the company secured a $650 million investment in July that valued it at $9 billion.
Wonder, helmed by serial entrepreneur Marc Lore, operates 140 retail locations across the Northeast where diners can order gourmet takeout meals based on recipes from celebrity chefs like Bobby Flay. The company said the layoffs were across ‘multiple corporate teams’ and were necessary to focus on key growth areas including physical expansion and robotics investments, the New York Post reported.
‘As Wonder enters its next chapter, we made the difficult decision to eliminate a number of roles to focus our resources on key growth areas,’ a Wonder spokesperson said. ‘We recognize the impact this will have on our colleagues and are committed to supporting them through this transition.’
No stores were shuttered in the restructuring, and the company said it plans to end the year with 175 locations. The cuts come despite Wonder’s massive fundraising success; the company has raised more than $3 billion since launching in 2018 and is preparing for an initial public offering within the next one to two years.
However, Wonder faces significant financial challenges. The company does not expect to be cash flow positive until 2030 and projects burning nearly $2.7 billion in cash through 2029, according to a report by The Information.
Lore, who previously founded Jet.com and Diapers.com and headed Walmart.com until 2021, has made several high-profile acquisitions to build Wonder’s empire. The company purchased Grubhub for $625 million last year and acquired meal-kit company Blue Apron in 2023 for $103 million.
Retail consultant Brittain Ladd offered a blunt assessment: ‘Wonder is blitzscaling to create the perception that they’re a growing company with big demand. They’re opening up new restaurants as fast as possible to try and attract investors and have a successful IPO.’
The layoffs reflect a broader trend in the New York tech and food delivery sector, where companies are increasingly turning to automation to reduce labor costs and improve margins ahead of potential public offerings.
