Meet Kenya’s Emerging Logistics Powerhouse Sendy Mobile

Kenyan logistics startup Sendy Mobile has launched using its web platform and mobile app to connect drivers of pickups, trucks, vans, and motorcycle with businesses that need to move goods.

The startup was founded in 2014 by co-founders Meshack Alloys, Malaika Judd, Evanson Biwott and Don Okoth. At inception, the platform only incorporated bikes to do deliveries within Nairobi but has since grown to include four wheelers as big as 28T trucks.

In an interview with Innovation Village, Marketing Associate, Glenn Ogolah revealed the inspiration behind Sendy Mobile, he said, “The logistics sector in East Africa is primarily serviced by the informal sector. This creates a number of problems.

“First, drivers experience a lot of idle time. Without a way of finding business and relying on relationships, these drivers lacked access to potential customers who desperately needed their service. The second was the absence of professionalism. It is common practice for people to accompany their goods during deliveries to insure against damage or theft. Third, the cost of logistics is very high. Price regulation was also a challenge as drivers, having few customers had to charge higher rates to cover their operational costs and living expenses.”

Sendy Mobile is quite unique in its services as it connects an existing base of drivers to a market that needs deliveries made. Most other logistics service providers own their own vehicles. This limits scalability. It also makes it difficult for customers to get vehicles on demand when the need arises.

For prospective clients, they can request vehicles for their logistics using the application of the web platform. The pricing is upfront and users have access to different types of vehicles at the touch of a button depending on what they need.

On traction, Ogolah said, “Sendy has grown to serve 50,000 businesses and individuals in Kenya in the past four years. The team has also grown considerably and we are in our second round of funding.”

Commenting on challenges and achievements since launch, he said, “Since the logistics sector is highly informal, professionalizing the drivers is a challenge. We work through this by training and vetting drivers before they are allowed onto the platform.

“ One key achievement is the launch of Sendy Standard, a service that allows businesses to offer doorstep delivery anywhere in Nairobi at a fixed price. The idea is to lower logistics costs for e-commerce businesses.”

Sendy Mobile hopes to one day be the preferred logistics partner in Africa. The startup has plans to expand its operations to Uganda this year and later Tanzania as well as making logistics accessible to businesses across the continent.

Speaking on the fast-growing African tech and startup space, Ogolah said, “Africa’s startup scene is very vibrant for the simple reason that Africa has so much potential for growth. There is so much that could be done for instance in Kenya and that is where Startups like Sendy come up to solve these challenges”

On the Kenyan tech and startup space, he said, “Kenya arguably has the most vibrant startup ecosystems in Africa. It is the largest economy in East Africa and expected to grow by 5.8%. Kenya also has one of the best-educated workforces in the continent.

“There are as many internet subscriptions and mobile phones in the country as there are people. There are more co-working spaces. All these make the country an ideal launching pad for businesses targeted towards the continent.”