Buyk ceases operations amid foreign financial crisis

Buyk, an upstart grocery delivery service that recently launched its first private label line of products, is no more. The Russian-backed company has ceased operations and filed for bankruptcy, citing financial struggles in light of financial restrictions by Russian president Vladimir Putin to keep money from leaving the country.

First covered by Bloomberg, Buyk recently furloughed almost all its employees, about 900 people, amid the financial trouble. The startup’s founders are Russian and had been providing bridge financing while the company prepared to close its next funding round. 

Buyk’s founders also started the delivery service Samokat, one of Russia’s biggest instant grocery-delivery companies. It’s partially owned by state-controlled bank Sberbank, which landed on the list of sanctioned entities by the U.S. government last month over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Buyk had been exploring selling itself and had “reached out to all kinds of potential strategic partners in the U.S.,” including DoorDash Inc., Gorillas and Gopuff. In February, Grubhub and Buyk teamed up to provide 15-minute delivery of Buyk items, including private label products.

Buyk, founded last year, has filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The company listed its co-founders Slava Bocharov and Rodion Shishkov as its largest equity holders. Buyk is seeking court protection “in view of the inability of the investors to further fund the ongoing business,” according to the court documents. 

“We have diligently explored all possible options and partnerships to restructure Buyk and keep the business going, however, the war in Ukraine and subsequent restrictions in funding have unfortunately made it impossible to continue operations,” said James Walker, CEO of Buyk. “I am extremely proud of the entire Buyk team for their amazing achievements since we launched the business last year. These are truly some of the most talented and dedicated people I have had the pleasure to work with in my career and I wish them much success in the future."