SpoonRocket Rises From The Ashes

Judging by the number of recent resurrections, Easter has come early.

The latest company to make a journey to the beyond and back is SpoonRocket, a startup that, as of a few months ago, seemed to be on the verge of breathing its last — another victim of an on-demand economy that got a little overheated by exuberance.

As it turns out, SpoonRocket’s new owner, Brazil-based iFood, is bringing it back.

Kind of.

IFood had initially bought out SpoonRocket for its IP — specifically, its logistics program for optimizing delivery times and order tracking. The business itself looked like it was going to be shuttered.

Well, iFood is using SpoonRocket’s IP to up its Latin American game, but it seems it is also bringing back a slightly modified version of SpoonRocket to market in Brazil.

SpoonRocket will not make its own food any longer, which is probably for the best since its food was never all that well-reviewed. Instead, SpoonRocket will refocus on curating menus and the tech and logistics that go into on-demand food delivery. In Brazil, it will target restaurants that don’t currently have food delivery options; iFood will continue to offer its platform for restaurants that have their own delivery services.

“Focusing on what each one does better, we alongside our partners are able to provide a unique experience to our customers,” SpoonRocket CEO Roberto Gandolfo said. “There are fantastic restaurants in Brazil, some of them listed on the Michelin Guide, that have not operated delivery because it’s a big challenge and requires them to go beyond their core competence. SpoonRocket makes it an easier process and offers a new market to these restaurants.”

SpoonRocket has 300 restaurants in it lineup in São Paulo. It’s next stop is Rio and the rest of Brazil’s urban centers. While there are analogs of varying levels of similarity, SpoonRocket is unique in the Brazilian marketplace. IFood is currently the largest on-demand food delivery service in Latin America with about 2.4 million deliveries per month. So far, it has raised $91.86 million in investor funding, $30 million of which was raised last month.