Sunday attributed the layoffs and restructuring to investor pressure around profitability, Sifted reports. 

The company has grown quickly since its debut in spring of 2021, securing $24 million in seed round funding and $100 million from its Series A funding led by Coatue with participation from DST Global in less than a year.

Sunday’s value proposition met the needs of pandemic-era diners and restaurants, allowing customers to browse an operator’s menu on their mobile device and pay for their meal through a QR code for a contactless experience. 

The restaurant payments market is crowded with competitors. Toast went public last fall, raising over $870 million on the first day of its IPO, fueling the acceleration of its digital ordering and payments capabilities. That company has also bolstered its non-payments offerings, most recently by acquiring Sling, a restaurant employee scheduling and management platform. The deal is meant to support Toast’s payroll and management services. 

Sunday has also moved toward diversifying its offerings, perhaps in a bid to stretch beyond COVID-19 era use cases as diners become more comfortable with traditional on-premise experiences and potentially less reliant on QR codes. The company added QR code ordering (it initially offered only payments) to its platform in March. In 2021, the company said it planned to develop a loyalty program, according to a report from Business Insider.

One thing is clear: fast-growing, digitally focused food platforms are beginning to run into stumbling blocks. Reef Technology, a ghost kitchen company backed by Softbank, cut 5% of its workforce in May. And this week, delivery startup Gopuff announced it is trimming 10% of its global workforce and closing dozens of its distribution centers.

By Emma Liem Beckett on July 17, 2022
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