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Rocket Internet’s online food delivery service Foodpanda might have just shut down its operations in Vietnam, local news site Genk reports.

Genk says a supposed “notice of termination” from Foodpanda that’s making the rounds on social media informed its restaurant partners it was closing down in Vietnam due to a “financial situation” and because it was “facing many difficulties.”

The notice, supposedly signed by country general director Trương Duy Linh, further said that five days following the announcement, the company would cease all business activities in the country, primarily its website Foodpanda.vn.

Image courtesy of Genk

We’re trying to reach out to Foodpanda to confirm the report and we’ll update this story once we hear back.

Foodpanda launched in Vietnam (initially as HungryPanda) in 2012, a time when competition in this sector was already heating up around Asia. In Vietnam, the company has had to work hard to deal with strong homegrown brands Vietnammm and Eat.vn.

Eat.vn is backed by one of Vietnam’s most prominent online media companies, VC Corp. On the other hand, Vietnammm was acquired by Takeaway, one of the world’s biggest online food delivery services, bringing the rivalry to a whole new level.

All companies were said to have been amping up their advertising spend. Genk says until the end of 2014, Foodpanda was aggressively fighting for its share of the market, advertising even on TV channels.

In Asia and elsewhere around the globe, Foodpanda is competing head-on with India’s Zomato in the online ordering space. Foodpanda has gobbled up competitors in Mexico, Russia, Brazil, Eastern Europe, India, and Southeast Asia, bringing its restaurant partners to more than 38,000 in 500 cities worldwide as of current count. Zomato previously claimed to have tie-ups with over a million restaurants across 23 countries. Both companies have heavy financial backing: Foodpanda has raised US$318 million in funding so far, versus Zomato’s US$223.3 million.

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