The archive · Logistics & Supply · Strategic decision · 2015–2023
Sendy's $26.5M bet on digitizing African logistics ends in a 2023 shutdown and asset sale
Kenya's 'Uber for logistics' raised $26.5M from Toyota Tsusho and others, expanded to four countries, ran out of cash in 2023, and shut down.
Sendy
What the business is
Kenyan logistics startup connecting retailers to manufacturers and offering end-to-end order fulfillment, warehousing and last-mile delivery.
Starting capital：$26.5M in disclosed funding, including a $20M Series B led by Atlantica Ventures with Toyota Tsusho (2020)
How it started
Founded in 2015 in Nairobi by Meshack Alloys, Evanson Biwott, Don Okoth and Malaika Judd to fix Africa's fragmented delivery market. It raised $26.5M in disclosed funding, including a $20M Series B in 2020 led by Atlantica Ventures with Toyota Tsusho joining the round.
What happened
Expanded to Kenya, Uganda, Ivory Coast and Nigeria, launching Nigerian on-ground operations at the end of 2021. In 2022 Sendy targeted a $100M raise but secured only an undisclosed fraction from MOL PLUS, the corporate VC of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines. It cut 10% of its workforce in July 2022, laid off 54 employees and wound down its supplies service in October, then exited on-ground fulfillment in Nigeria in February 2023, cutting more jobs.
How it ended up
Shut down in August 2023 and began an asset sale. Valued above $80M in late 2022, it had tried to raise at $40–60M; a key investor backed out, and more than 200 employees were affected.
Background
Sendy was founded in Nairobi in 2015 by Meshack Alloys, Evanson Biwott, Don Okoth and Malaika Judd with a simple bet: digitize Africa's fragmented delivery market. The startup raised $26.5 million in disclosed funding — including a $20 million Series B led by Atlantica Ventures with Toyota Tsusho in 2020 — and grew into one of East Africa's most prominent logistics companies, connecting retailers to manufacturers and running end-to-end fulfillment with warehousing and last-mile delivery.
It expanded across Kenya, Uganda, Ivory Coast and Nigeria, launching on-ground Nigerian operations at the end of 2021. Then the money stopped flowing: Sendy had targeted a $100 million raise in 2022 but secured only an undisclosed fraction from MOL PLUS, the corporate VC of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines. Cost cuts followed — a 10% workforce reduction in July 2022, 54 layoffs and the wind-down of its supplies service in October, and an exit from on-ground fulfillment in Nigeria in February 2023.
By June 2023 the company had run out of funds, and in August it confirmed it was shutting down and exploring a sale of its assets. Sources told TechCrunch that Sendy, valued above $80 million in late 2022, had tried to raise fresh capital at $40–60 million; a key investor backed out, and more than 200 employees were affected. Talks with African logistics players, including Trella, Sabi and Wasoko, centered on selling its technology and fulfillment operations.
What has to be true
- Sendy spent $26.5M across four countries on an asset-heavy fulfillment model whose costs scaled faster than SME order economics.
- It banked on a $100M raise that never came; when MOL PLUS invested only a fraction, the cash runway shrank to months.
- Down-round attempts at $40–60M collapsed when a key investor withdrew, leaving no bridge to survival.
- The same pattern hit Kenyan B2B startups broadly: venture euphoria funded expansion, but unit economics did not follow.
What can be applied
Scale needs gross margin per order, not just volume: Sendy's asset-heavy, four-country model burned cash faster than SMEs could pay, leaving no profitable core when the $100M round shrank.
Aftermath
As of August 2023 Sendy had ceased operations and was pursuing asset sales, with its technology and fulfillment operations discussed with African logistics peers including Trella, Sabi and Wasoko. Co-founder Meshack Alloys described the company as being in an acquisition process, though no completed deal had been announced by the time of reporting. More than 200 employees were affected by the closure.
Sources
- Kenyan logistics startup Sendy shuts down, embarks on asset sale
- More job cuts loom as Sendy changes course in Nigeria
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