What Happens When Hype Outruns the Numbers: Oja A Business Breakdown!

This week, London-based grocery delivery startup Oja entered administration after staff and suppliers were left unpaid despite attracting seven-figure investment and high-profile backers, including footballer Raheem Sterling.

The business, which specialised in African and Caribbean groceries, suspended operations at the end of July citing “funding constraints.” Final deliveries were made on 30 July. But the reality behind the closure shows a much longer period of financial strain.

The Warning Signs Were Already There

Court records reveal that between March and July, Oja faced eight legal claims totalling over £50,000 for unpaid wages and supplier fees. Notably, the first claim more than £7,000 owed to a small supplier was filed two weeks before the high-profile funding round was announced.

Internally, staff disputes over late wages were ongoing. Ex-employees described months of waiting to be paid, with one saying they felt “like an unemployed person with a job.” Some were forced to borrow money from family while still employed.

Suppliers reported similar experiences, with one local business owner saying he watched produce he supplied being sold on Oja’s platform below cost, while his invoices went unpaid.

Why the Business Cracked

Oja’s rise was fast. Cultural relevance, strong branding, and celebrity backing brought attention and credibility. But attention doesn’t equal sustainability.

This wasn’t a lack-of-demand problem. It was a cash-flow, margin, and operational control problem.

Food delivery is notoriously unforgiving. Logistics costs are high, margins are thin, and many startups rely on continuous funding to stay afloat. When investor appetite tightens and costs rise, businesses without strong fundamentals are exposed quickly.

By the time customers began reporting missed deliveries and ignored refund requests, the business was already in distress.

What Celebrity Backing Didn’t (and Couldn’t) Fix!

Sterling was a minority shareholder, and his representatives confirmed he was not aware of the legal claims or financial issues. There is no suggestion he knew about the problems at the business.

That distinction matters.

Celebrity investors bring visibility and PR not financial discipline, governance, or day-to-day oversight. Those responsibilities always sit with the founder and leadership team.

Founder Lessons from the Collapse

1. Funding is a runway, not a rescue

If your business can’t survive without constant capital injections, the model isn’t working.

2. Unpaid wages and suppliers are not “growing pains”

They are early indicators of failure not problems to postpone.

3. PR should never outpace operations

Public success stories collapse quickly when internal trust breaks.

4. Selling below cost is not scale

Volume accelerates losses if margins never improve.

5. Leadership is tested most when cash is tight

Hard markets don’t remove responsibility they expose it.

The Forty60 Reality Check

Only 40% of businesses survive beyond year three.

Most don’t fail because the idea was bad they fail because the numbers stopped working and the warnings were ignored too long.

Hype gets attention.

Strategy keeps businesses alive.

The Forty60 Club

Because survival is about systems, not spotlight.