Post-mortem. Sprig closed in May 2017. The account below was written after the end, with the outcome known. Separately, a blind test with the evidence cut off at November 2015, before the end, returned: not called safe. How the blind test works.

Sprig

Sprig was a defunct app-based meal delivery startup with its own kitchens and chefs (2013-2017)

Blind testEvidence cut off November 2015 · Ended May 2017 · Result: not called safe

What happened

Company ceased all operations after failing to find a buyer (May 2017)

Why it did not hold

Sprig spent nine years and $56.7 million building its own kitchens and driver fleet, then closed in 2017 as marketplace rivals delivered the same meals for less.

Sprig was a food delivery company that tried to compete by building and running its own kitchens, hiring chefs, and employing drivers. This made each delivery expensive compared to rivals like DoorDash and Uber Eats, which simply connected customers to existing restaurants and independent drivers. Every other company that tried the same approach (Maple, SpoonRocket, Munchery, Dinner Lab) also collapsed, which shows the model itself could never work well enough to survive.

AI pressure: None apparent. Sprig shut down in 2017 before AI tools became relevant to food delivery operations or ordering.

Bigger players: DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub. Marketplace apps with no kitchens or drivers on payroll served the same customers at lower cost, and Sprig ran out of cash trying to compete.

What protected it. None. Sprig had no protection against cheaper competitors and closed after failing to find a buyer in 2017.

Timeline

2025DoorDash, the marketplace model that outcompeted Sprig, acquires Deliveroo for $3.9B
2021DoorDash acquires Wolt for EUR 7B, expanding the asset-light model that beat Sprig
2020-12DoorDash goes public
2017-05-26Sprig, Inc. ceases all operations after failing to find a buyer
2016-07-28Sprig lays off 7 staff, exits Chicago, consolidates to San Francisco only
2015-08-06Sprig reports over 500,000 meals delivered since launch; ~120 payroll staff
2013Sprig founded by Gagan Biyani and co-founders in San Francisco

Also gone

Chegg closed 2026 Course Hero closed 2026 One Hour Translation / Blend was absorbed 2026

All 62 post-mortems →

This page is a post-mortem, not a live assessment, and it carries no band. The blind-test result is the only part made without knowledge of the outcome.