Kenya’s logistics startup Sendy is shutting down

Sendy is shutting down its operations and is in advanced discussions about an acquisition. According to Meshack Alloys, Sendy co-founder in a confirmation to TechCrunch, “We are in the middle of an acquisition process. So yes, Sendy is being acquired. We will issue a formal joint statement in two weeks or so time. In the meantime, we are unable to comment on further details at this time.”

Founded in 2015 by Don Okoth, Evanson Biwott, Malaika Judd, Meshack Alloys, Sendy offers a logistics platform to make delivery processes simple, transparent, and secure. It provides an easy way for businesses to move goods, with thousands of companies using its platforms and APIs to sell and deliver goods to their consumers. Sendy’s mission is to empower people and businesses by making it easier to trade.

Sendy has so far raised $26.5 million since inception from several investors, including Toyota Tsusho, Atlantica Ventures, VestedWorld, Keppel Capital, Enza Capital, AAICA Investment Pte Ltd, Sunu Capital and Goodwill Investments.

For quite some time now, Sendy has been grappling with issues of staying afloat following a series of layoffs and business choices that compelled it to discontinue certain product offerings.

Last year, Sendy let go of 10% of its staff, which Alloys pointed out was a response to the “current realities impacting tech companies globally.” Subsequently, Sendy’s workforce has been further streamlined through additional cost-saving measures, including discontinuing a product line and withdrawing from a market. In October of the same year, the Kenyan startup laid off 54 employees and phased out its supply service. This February, the company declared its exit from its end-to-end fulfillment offering in Nigeria, a market it had entered two years earlier.

In 2022, the startup secured “bail-out funds” from MOL PLUS, the venture capital arm of Japanese transport company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) but it seemed this was not enough to keep its doors open. It had targeted about $100 million.

Since then it has been actively exploring alternative measures to fortify its business but has not met with success hence next step of shutting down operations.

It is not yet clear who the buyer is and we will await further details over the next two weeks