In a dramatic turn of events following the unsettling liquidations of industry giants Gorillas and Getir, which left over 1,300 employees in uncertainty, Flink France, a specialist in express home delivery of groceries, has found a lifeline. The company has been acquired, ensuring the retention of 270 jobs, albeit with the unfortunate loss of approximately 200 positions. The fate of these employees remains uncertain, a cause for concern voiced by Sorike Kamassokho, the representative of the employees and the CGT union section. Kamassokho highlights the predicament of around “thirty undocumented workers” as the most vulnerable in this situation.

Since entering receivership back in June, Flink France has now been rescued by a consortium led by Guillaume Luscan, the current general manager, the German parent company, and the Algerian startup Yassir. This lifesaving deal, accepted by the Paris commercial court on Tuesday, September 12, has secured the future of 56% of the workforce. Notably, Yassir has committed an impressive investment of more than 5 million euros to revive the company. Guillaume Luscan, in his explanation of Yassir, underscores its expertise in on-demand and payment services, marking it as one of the most valuable startups in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region.

The financial requirement for this revitalization project, aimed at taking the company to profitability, stands at approximately 5.4 million euros, which includes the acquisition cost of Flink France, estimated at around 500,000 euros, as per the offer examined by AFP. The new ownership group intends to streamline operations, “massify volumes,” and significantly reduce fixed costs.

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To achieve these goals, they have decided to retain 14 out of the 19 sites offering express home delivery of groceries in cities such as Paris, Lyon, Lille, Marseille, Montpellier, Nice, Bordeaux, Toulouse, and Nantes. The decision to close certain stores, particularly those that have faced criticism from local residents and elected officials due to the constant traffic of delivery personnel, has been made a priority. This primarily includes four stores in Paris and one in the Paris region.

The “quick commerce” industry faced severe setbacks last March when stringent regulations redefined “dark stores” as warehouses rather than businesses, opening the door to municipal regulation of this activity and even site closures. This led to the Turkish company Getir’s withdrawal from the French market, resulting in the liquidation of Getir and Gorillas, with the fate of Frichti hanging in the balance until the end of September.

Flink France had found itself in receivership in June, primarily due to regulatory challenges. With this acquisition, the new leadership aims to ensure that the company aligns better with its regulatory environment. Guillaume Luscan, who has been managing Flink France since March 2023 and is also a co-founder of Cajoo (now part of Flink SE), emphasized their faith in the express delivery model. Luscan expressed optimism, stating, “We have a recovery and restructuring plan that allows us to achieve profitability, focusing on improving the customer experience through the expansion of the offering and the addition of new functionalities.”

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Established in France just two years ago, Flink originally emerged in Germany in 2020, founded by logistics and distribution experts.

Yassir Flink Yassir Flink

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. 
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard