Getir, the grocery delivery app once valued at close to $12bn (£9.7bn), is halting its operations in the UK, a move that will raise concerns about more than 1,000 jobs.

Sky News has learned that Getir is preparing to announce next week that it will exit the three remaining European markets in which it operates: the UK, Germany and the Netherlands.

In total, thousands of jobs will be at risk, including around 1,500 in the UK, according to people familiar with the matter.

Getir launched a multi-million pound commercial partnership with Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur on Friday, with plans to exit the UK unclear.

Insiders said that could involve asset sales or bankruptcy proceedings, but they added that no decision had been made yet.

Getir has previously denied that any form of insolvency was possible for the group or its subsidiaries.

The company is understood to have hired restructuring advisers in recent days, while Abu Dhabi fund Mubadala, one of its largest shareholders, has been advised by AlixPartners.

Getir’s plan to exit the UK and other markets will see it operate only in the US and Türkiye.

Eventually, the company is expected to seek to operate exclusively in Türkiye, where it was founded.

Getir, which means “bring” in Turkish, has expanded at an incredible rate to become one of the most valuable fast delivery platforms in the world.

Earlier this week, Sky News reported that the company was weighing a series of asset sales, including US online grocer FreshDirect, which it acquired only late last year, as part of efforts to repair its balance sheet.

Getir was valued at nearly $12bn (£9.7bn) just two years ago and has been looking to acquire a number of financially troubled rivals.

The company has already pulled out of several countries, including Italy and Spain, to cut losses.

Its retreat highlights the declining valuations of technology companies once hailed as the new giants of major economies.

In addition to Mubadala, Getir is backed by well-known technology investors such as Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global.

The company has been one of the hottest startups during the pandemic, as financiers poured billions of dollars into companies they believed would benefit from structural shifts in the economy.

The company raised more than $750 million in a funding round in early 2022, but its valuation has since fallen sharply.

In September last year, Getir also announced significant layoffs, laying off about 2,500 people, accounting for about 10% of its global workforce.

Founded in 2015, Getir is one of many companies promising fast delivery of groceries and other essentials to urban consumers.

The industry’s sales have exploded during the coronavirus crisis, with emerging trends such as working from home boosting investor confidence that the boom is sustainable.

Many of its rivals have gone bankrupt, while others have been swallowed up in a desperate wave of consolidation.

Getir itself acquired Gorillas in a $1.2 billion stock deal that closed in December 2022.

“Getir generally does not comment on rumors,” a spokesman said Friday.