The company, which recently hired a new co-president, said it's "restructuring our organization to strategically focus on current opportunities."
Multiple food tech companies have announced layoffs as the industry faces growing instability in capital market conditions.
Business Insider reported that Nextbite—a company supplying restaurants with virtual brands like George Lopez Tacos and Packed Bowls by Wiz Khalifa—recently cut its staff, although CEO Alex Canter didn't provide the exact number of employees. Nextbite was previously known as Ordermark, and raised $120 million in 2020.
The executive said the company is "restructuring our organization to strategically focus on current opportunities" as it adapts to the changing market. One of those shifts is bringing on former Red Robin chief executive Denny Marie Post to serve as co-president. After serving as an adviser since September 2021, she will now oversee marketing, operations, and culinary innovation.
Additionally, sunday—which provides a tech solution allowing customers to scan a QR code, pay, and leave without interaction from staff—is reportedly leaving 60 percent of its markets and making "extensive cuts" to its global team, according to European publication Sifted. This comes after the company raised $124 million in five months. In March, sunday announced that it was partnering with more than 5,000 restaurants around the world, representing transaction volume of $7 billion. The brand also hired 400 workers across five countries in just under one year.
In May, ghost kitchen solution REEF Technology revealed that it was cutting 5 percent of its staff to adapt to the current environment.
John Zolidis, a retail and food tech analyst with Quo Vadis Capital, told Business Insider that venture capitalists are pulling back or looking for lower valuations because of the unpredictable macroeconomic future.
"The change in the investing climate has also adjusted tolerance for loss-making businesses, as the market has been least kind to high-flying, high-multiple companies with an occluded path to profitability," he told the publication."
Aside from food tech, Panera and industry veteran Danny Meyer recently announced they terminated plans to take the fast casual public—along with Caribou Coffee and Einstein Bros. Bagels—through a special purpose acquisition company. The two sides decided to end the deal due to "deteriorating capital market conditions."
