Inside Juicero’s Demise, From Prized Startup to Fire Sale
The shuttering of the much-ridiculed Silicon Valley startup was the culmination of unsustainable costs, slow sales and unflattering media reports.
Illustration: Steph Davidson
On Sept. 1, as many U.S. businesses closed early for the Labor Day holiday weekend, Juicero Inc.—a lavishly funded startup that once sold a $699 Wi-Fi-connected juice press—announced it was shutting down forever.
Juicero’s demise was not unexpected. Its collapse was the consequence of unsustainable costs, unflattering headlines and a bungled product launch. After attracting about $134 million in funding from such illustrious investors as Google Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Juicero was losing about $4 million a month. Four years after its founding, the startup was unable to find new backers willing to fund its ambition of making fresh juice accessible to all.