外卖公司Munchery申请破产

陷入困境的外卖服务创业公司Munchery已经正式申请破产，它欠很多人很多钱。

Munchery申请破产保护的文件表明，公司欠贷方的担保债务为2850万美元，无担保债务为600万美元（其中一半债务的债权人是230家小商贩和供应商，另一半是数千名还没花完礼品卡的用户）。Munchery称其破产原因包括过度扩张、无法吸引新客户、竞争激烈导致业务发展停滞等。

Munchery似乎是那种创业公司破产的经典故事——先是从夏尔巴投资（Sherpa Capital）、门罗风投（Menlo Ventures）、e.ventures和Greycroft等投资者那里筹集超过1.25亿美元的风险投资，顶峰时估值达到3亿美元，之后毫不客气地彻底崩盘。

今年1月，我写了一个关于生意失败的专栏，提醒读者当创业公司陷入困境时，要记住，赌局失败时，输的不仅仅是财大气粗的投资者。输的还有很多小商贩和供应商，而且他们不像投资的股东，他们无法轻轻松松地一笔勾销潇洒走开。

很多小企业主没有收到付款，其中有一位表示欠她的钱超过2万美元，她大声向这家已经停业的创业公司背后的风险资本家喊话。“对你们来说这不算什么钱，但对我们来说，它意味着没钱交租，意味着下岗，意味着还要再等一年才能扩大经营创造收益。”三个宝贝面包店（Three Babes Bakeshop）的老板莉诺尔·埃斯特拉达写道。

Munchery的首席执行官詹姆斯·贝里尔克在申请破产保护的文件中写道：“直到2019年1月21日星期日晚上，管理层还在与若干高级担保债权人和投资者进行会商，想要为公司运营继续提供融资。”（《Term Sheet》栏目注：1月21日是星期一……而且该公司就在那天向客户发送了电子邮件通知公司已经停止运作，立即生效。）

换句话说，该公司一直拖到最后一秒，任由多家供应商陷入困境，提供服务却无法得到补偿。更糟糕的是，Munchery的投资者已经知道该公司自去年年初以来一直财务困难。有人建议公司减少经营活动，但该公司的管理团队选择了进取。

事实上，像埃斯特拉达这样的小商贩可能无法为自己提供的服务得到补偿。据《旧金山纪事报》（The SF Chronicle）报道，Munchery在一份文件中勾选了这个选项：“在支付完所有管理费用后，将不会提供资金分配给无担保债权人。”

与此同时，贝利尔克仍然在拿工资。该文件称，他的工资是每月18750美元，这是他之前工资的一半，预计能发到4月。此外，他还将出售公司资产，获得高达25万美元的成交费。（财富中文网）

译者：Agatha

Embattled food delivery startup Munchery has officially filed for bankruptcy, and it owes a whole lot of people a whole lot of money.

The company owes $28.5 million in secured debt to lenders and $6 million in unsecured debt (half of it is to 230 vendors and suppliers and the other half is to thousands of former customers who are holding unfulfilled gift cards), according to a Chapter 11 filing. Munchery lists aggressive expansion, inability to attract new customers, and increased competition as reasons that contributed to the shuttering of its business.

Munchery seems like the classic tale of a startup going bust — raising more than $125 million in venture funding from investors such as Sherpa Capital, Menlo Ventures, e.ventures, and Greycroft, and reaching a valuation of $300 million at its peak before unceremoniously crashing down to Earth.

But in January, I wrote a column on the failed business to remind readers that when startups dissolve into obscurity, it’s important to remember that it’s not only deep-pocketed investors who lose out when a bet goes bad. A lot of vendors and suppliers do too — and unlike the shareholders invested in the business, it’s not something they can simply write off and walk away from.

Many small business owners went without payment, and one such owner, who claims she’s owed more than $20,000, called out the venture capitalists behind the defunct startup. “It’s not a lot of money to you, but to us it’s missed rent payments, layoffs, and waiting another year to expand to offer benefits,” wrote Three Babes Bakeshop owner Lenore Estrada.

In the Chapter 11 filing, Munchery CEO James Beriker writes that “Up until the evening of Sunday January 21, 2019, management was negotiating with the senior secured creditors and several investors to continue financing the operations of the company.” (Term Sheet Note: Jan. 21 was a Monday … which is also when the company sent an email to customers to notify them it is ceasing operations effective immediately.)

In other words, the company waited until the last possible second, leaving many of its vendors high and dry for services they provided & would not be compensated for. What’s worse is that Munchery investors had known the company was in financial trouble since early last year. Some had encouraged the startup to wind down operations, but the company’s management team chose to forge ahead.

The reality is that vendors like Estrada probably will not get compensated for the services they provided. Munchery checked this box on a filing: “After any administrative expenses are paid, no funds will be available for distribution to unsecured creditors,” according to The SF Chronicle.

Meanwhile, Beriker is still getting paid. The filing states that his salary is $18,750 per month, which is half of his previous salary, and he anticipates it to continue through April. Additionally, he stands to receive a success fee up to $250,000 for selling company assets.