Overview

Product Description

Juicero was a company that formerly made a device for fruit and vegetable juicing. The company's product was called the Juicero Press, a Wi-Fi connected juicer that uses single-serving packets of chopped fruits and vegetables sold exclusively by the company by subscription.

Quick Stats

2013

Started in

Sep, 2017

Closed in

201-500

Employee (s)

$118,500,000

Total Raised

Why did Juicero fail?

Follow This Question - 0

Aaron Kazah

Updated on 29 Jan, 2018

Poor Value

No Sustainable Business Model

Juicero launched their $700 juicing machine in 2016 and that used $5 - $8 of packs of fruit and vegetables to make juice. For a juicing machine, it was pretty hi-tech as it came with wi-fi connection so it could work out whether the packs of fruits it used were still fresh. There are a few causes for its failure however ultimately I personally think that they just turned a very simple idea into an insanely complex product.Firstly, I just want to point out their unstainable business model and the issue with this was mainly the cost. Juicero&nbsp;initially charged customers a whopping&nbsp;$700 for their product and when it became clear that the price was pretty insane, they later brought it down to $399 which was an improvement to some degree but still ridiculous. &nbsp;As a customer, you had to subscribe to their weekly shipments of juice packs priced between $5 - $8 and when squeezed releases&nbsp;<a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/what-is-inside-a-juicero-juice-packet-2017-4" target="_blank">8 ounces of juice</a>. This wasn't too bad until Bloomberg revealed that you could get juice <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=56&amp;v=5lutHF5HhVA" target="_blank">better by hand pressing</a>&nbsp;compared to using the machine, thus rendering the machine useless. Additionally, this also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-04-19/silicon-valley-s-400-juicer-may-be-feeling-the-squeeze" target="_blank">surprised two of their investors</a>&nbsp;when they found out that juice could be extracted from the packs without their hi-tech high priced machine. Juicero ended up <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/20/15375940/juicero-full-refund-customers-ceo-jeff-dunn" target="_blank">offering refunds</a>&nbsp;to its customers after this fact was uncovered.Perhaps if the machine was priced less, then the priced could have been justified, but it wasn't, with better alternatives out there at a cheaper price and similar quality Juicero would have found it difficult to convince new customers to shell out a minimum $400 for a juicing machine.Secondly, the machine did solve a problem but it was a simple one; it saves you the cleaning from making your juice. You could experience this benefit only if you shelled out $400 and took part in their subscription model. Is having a no-mess experience when creating juice worth a minimum $400? Would you be willing to trade your mortgage payment, phone payment or even what is the price of a mid-level pc for a mess-free juice-creating experience? I wouldn't.As well as trying to control the entire supply chain by providing both the machine and juice packs, Juicero&nbsp;also restricted consumers from using packs made by other manufacturers. Keurig tried doing something similar however ended up rolling back that idea. Juicero could have taken this as a warning and allowed other manufacturers to supply juice packs, this would alleviate them of some of the costs of shipping juice packs but also there could have been a new market centered around creating juice packs for their machine. It's the equivalent of buying a Nintendo Wii and being told you could only play Mario games on it and nothing else.<a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/juicero-names-jeff-dunn-ceo-replacing-doug-evans-2016-10" target="_blank">Doug Evans left Juicero</a>&nbsp;a couple months after the launch of its machine. Juicero said in its announcement that the change was being made because Jeff Dunn (his replacement) was the right person to "execute the next phase of our ambitious vision.". I can understand that they're some founders out there who aren't really fit to lead an entire company but considering the fact that Juicero raised around $120m, it's a bit out of place for the CEO to leave 6 months after he launched his product. I personally would say the most likely reason he left was that he couldn't see the company succeed by offering what is essentially an overpriced novelty product.

5 Upvotes

Investors - 17

Funding Rounds - 4

Seed - $4,000,000

Series A - $16,500,000

Series B - $70,000,000

Series C - $28,000,000

Founders

Doug Evans

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Aaron Kazah

Juicero

2013

Started in

Sep, 2017

Closed in

201-500

Employee (s)

$118,500,000

Total Raised

Why did Juicero fail?

Aaron Kazah

Updated on 29 Jan, 2018

Abstract Ventures

Acre Venture Partners

AGO Partners

Bryant Stibel Investments

Campbell Soup Company

Campire Capital

First Beverage Group

GV

Haas Portman

Interplay Ventures

Kevin W. Tung

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

Melo7 Tech Partners LLC

Thrive Capital

Two Sigma Ventures

Undisclosed

Vast Ventures

Seed - $4,000,000

Undisclosed

Series A - $16,500,000

Undisclosed

Series B - $70,000,000

AGO Partners

Abstract Ventures

Acre Venture Partners

Bryant Stibel Investments

Campbell Soup Company

Campire Capital

First Beverage Group

GV

Haas Portman

Interplay Ventures

Kevin W. Tung

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

Melo7 Tech Partners LLC

Thrive Capital

Two Sigma Ventures

Vast Ventures

Series C - $28,000,000

Undisclosed