New York ride-hailing business Juno USA LP filed for bankruptcy protection, blaming its demise on minimum wage regulations and mounting lawsuits from drivers, riders and competitors, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The ride-hailing service, which launched in early 2016 and was acquired by Israeli startup Gett in 2017, had contracted with roughly 50,000 drivers in the New York area, providing nearly 50,000 rides a day at its peak, according to papers filed by Juno’s chief restructuring officer, Melissa Kibler, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. The bankruptcy comes shortly after Gett said that it was shuttering Juno while striking a partnership with Lyft Inc. to expand in the U.S. Ride-hailing companies are grappling with efforts by several states to extend employment protections to gig workers. In the face of additional regulation, the ride-hailing industry has been consolidating and pushing back against government measures that could upend their business models. Gett, which bought Juno in a $200 million equity-based deal, said that the company’s demise stemmed from “misguided regulations” in New York City. While the Juno app has been shut down, the company said that it wants to transform itself to offer “business-to-business” transportation services instead of relying on a “business-to-consumer” model. The company said it would develop a chapter 11 plan with Gett that would fund recoveries to creditors while Juno’s operating entities would be liquidated. Gett is providing $4.5 million in bankruptcy loans to finance the process, subject to court approval.
