ASAP delivery service previously known as Waitr files for bankruptcyASAP delivery service previously known as Waitr files for bankruptcy

Joanna Fantozzi

ASAP, the food delivery service formerly known as Waitr, has shut down after the company filed for Ch. 7 bankruptcy, according to an 8-K form filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 2.

According to the bankruptcy filing, the company and all its subsidiaries — including Dude Delivery, Waitr, ASAP, Bite Squad, Delivery Logistics, and Catering on Demand — ceased all operations on April 2, though the wheels for Ch. 7 liquidation have been in motion since February, when the company began ceasing operations.

All of Waitr Holdings’ assets will be liquidated in accordance with federal bankruptcy law, and the company’s executive leadership, including CEO Carl Grimstad, have been terminated, effective immediately. The filing also stated that the dissolved company is unlikely to pay out stock holdings to the company’s shareholders, “following the bankruptcy proceedings.”

Waitr was founded in 2013 as a boutique delivery platform by students at McNeese University and then was officially launched in 2015 before spreading throughout Louisiana and into other regions. In 2018, the company was acquired by Landry’s owner Tilman Fertitta’s blank check company, Landcadia Holdings Inc., for $308 million.

Since then, the company has experienced a series of financial ups and downs as the restaurant industry entered the golden era of food delivery and it was “sink or swim” in the increasingly crowded market. Waitr tried to differentiate itself from competitors like Grubhub and DoorDash by catering toward smaller, independent restaurants in mid-sized cities.

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But the company still faced challenges: In Dec. 2019, Waitr received a delisting warning from Nasdaq as its stock had remained below $1 per share for 30 consecutive days. Shortly thereafter, Waitr underwent a leadership shakeup with former iPayment CEO Carl Grimstad now helming the company, who then announced massive layoffs of thousands of delivery drivers a month later.

Since then, Waitr underwent a flurry of acquisition and partnership activity in 2021 and 2022 to try to bounce back and stay relevant in the post-pandemic delivery game, including a partnership with Nextbite in Feb. 2021 (which would undergo its own fiscal troubles two years later) the acquisition of Delivery Dudes in March 2021, and the attempted acquisition of cannabis dispensary company, Cova, in Jan. 2022, which subsequently failed. Later that year, Waitr was required to change its name to ASAP.com as part of a legal settlement after the unrelated Waiter.com sued the company over trademark infringement.

Related:7-Eleven adds Waitr to delivery lineup

As of its last earnings filing, ASAP.com recorded $11.5 million of revenue in Q3 2023, down by more than half from $25.1 million the same quarter the year prior. Average daily orders fell to less than a third year over year.

Contact Joanna at [email protected]