Image Credits: Local Heroes
The recent global economic crisis has been tough for startups and large organisations alike. It has led to a rise in layoffs and shutting down companies globally across the sectors.
Amsterdam-based Local Heroes, an e-commerce platform established to support local shops and food markets, is the latest victim, at least temporarily.
Maarten Coumans, the founder of Local Heroes, announced on Friday that the startup would cease operations. However, a restart is still being considered.
The company announced its decision to shut down through an email both to employees and customers. According to Maarten, the platform’s model proved difficult to scale without burdening local entrepreneurs with high commissions.
“At the moment, there are no more financial resources to continue the activities, and we are forced to close the doors,” says Maarten in the mail.
The announcement comes a week after Maarten shared a post on LinkedIn seeking a minimum of €500K in funding to scale up the company.
“We are looking for partners and investors who want to help us in our next phase of growth. We are looking for a minimum of €500k to scale up together with our existing investors. Affinity with IT and e-commerce are an advantage,” shares Maarten.
The Pivot
However, the Dutch company is considering a restart.
“We are still looking at the possibilities for a restart with Local Heroes Click & Collect. We will miss you and hope to see you again,” shares Maarten in an email.
The company plans to pivot its business into a SaaS solution — Local Heroes Click & Collect. It comprises an individualised app for customers, vendors, and logistics within one platform, helping streamline and manage the operations in one go.
According to Maarten, the company has piloted the SaaS solution in Amsterdam and Brabant with 90 entrepreneurs and 35 farmers. During the pilot, the company witnessed over 17,000 orders with €600K turnover.
“With a scalable, low-cost SaaS proposition, developed with local entrepreneurs, we make them an omnichannel player. Our innovative ordering and payment method comes together with three advanced apps for the customer, entrepreneur and logistics. This will make Local Heroes great!”
Local Heroes: What you need to know
Local Heroes offers an e-commerce platform for local establishments and businesses, thereby creating an online presence to compete with big online players.
Through the e-commerce platform, users can support local businesses by ordering from them online and getting deliveries at home.
In 2020, Local Heroes received an investment of €1M from three family funds to focus on IT and the sustainability of its operations.
Local Heroes is on a mission to help local establishments thrive again and gain the market share that’s been lost over the years.
