Tony Illes was riding high for four years as a full-time delivery driver for several apps—by his count, he made 10,000 deliveries, a good living in the gig economy. Just weeks ago, it all came to a screeching halt when he suddenly found himself waiting six hours for a single UberEats delivery request.

“Demand was dead,” the 30-year-old Illes told Fortune.

Shortly afterward, he launched Tony Delivers, a service where Illes brings hungry Seattleites in his Beacon Hill neighborhood food deliveries on his e-bike or e-scooter. Every order in a 1.5- mile diameter costs $5, no matter what customers order. READ MORE