Melbourne startup Shebah has been placed in voluntary administration, a victim of ongoing lockdowns during the Covid pandemic.
Administrators Sam Kaso and Rachel Burdett of Cor Cordis said they will try to save the country’s only women-focused rideshare business through a sale or restructure.
“Shebah will continue to operate as normal while we stabilise the business and assess the operations before calling for expressions of interest,” Kaso said.
Shebah founder and CEO Georgina McEncroe has spent much of the pandemic trying to find new investors for the business, but as ongoing and extended lockdowns hammered customer numbers, the rideshare ran out of both time and money.
McEncroe said revenues had plummeted by 70% due to Covid during the latest shutdowns in NSW and Victoria. This time however, the crippled business didn’t meet the requirements for state government support.
“Our drivers received some JobKeeper assistance but the company did not qualify for government assistance because we were not required to close down,” she said.