On-demand delivery service Lazy Az has gone into liquidation, citing insufficient working capital to cover the cost of operations.
The start-up, founded by then-teenager Aryaman Taore in 2016, incurred substantial debt during its set-up and required "much more capital investment than the director was able to provide", according to the liquidator's first report.
All Lazy Az staff have been made redundant.
Porirua-based accountant and convicted tax fraudster Imran Muhammad Kamal has been appointed liquidator of the company.
In 2013, Kamal was sentenced to three months home detention and 150 hours of community service for tax evasion.
Kamal pleaded guilty to six charges under the Tax Administration Act in 2013. He will now settle the books for the company.
Taore has been approached for comment.
Last year, Taore told the Herald Lazy Az was on track to reach an annual turnover of $1 million, and was not fazed by the launch of Uber Eats.
"Users have awareness of such services coming into the market but they come back to us because they're not able to get to the local dairy to pick up milk, or the Indian shop that's right next to them, which some other on-demand platforms might not have," he said.
The company had close to 10,000 users and 50 delivery drivers in September last year, Taore said.
Lazy Az operated through an app where users select an item such as food or flowers to be purchased and delivered on their behalf. It had delivery partnerships with more than 150 brands including Sal's Pizza, Habitual Fix and Pita Pit.
Taore started the business with $1000 savings and a $750 "investment" from his parents. In 2016, Lazy Az successfully crowdfunded $240,000 in equity to develop its app and website.
He said Lazy Az earned between $12,000 and $13,000 a month, in December 2016.
It is not yet known how much Lazy Az owes creditors.