Sprig
Cooking and delivering restaurant-quality meals for $10 doesn't work when each meal costs $13+ to make and deliver.
Sprig was a Food Delivery startup founded in 2013 in USA. It raised $56M before collapsing in 2017 — 4 years of runway burned. IdeaProof's AI Failure Score: 65/100, driven by unit economics failure. The shutdown affected employees, investors, and the broader Food Delivery ecosystem. This case study breaks down the timeline, root causes, competitors that won, and replicable lessons for founders validating similar ideas today.
Why did Sprig fail?
Sprig failed in 2017 after 4 years of operation, losing $56M in raised capital. The root cause was unit economics failure. Key lesson: Cooking and delivering restaurant-quality meals for $10 doesn't work when each meal costs $13+ to make and deliver.
2013 → 2017
$56M
Food Delivery
USA
IdeaProof AI Failure Score
Full Analysis
Sprig prepared and delivered healthy meals to San Francisco customers for around $10. The food was highly rated, but each meal cost $13+ to make and deliver. The company raised $56M trying to achieve scale economics that never materialized. Shut down in May 2017.
Could This Failure Have Been Prevented?
IdeaProof's AI validates market demand, competitive positioning, and business model viability in minutes — catching the exact issues that sank Sprig.