Grace Ashiru
Sendy, a logistics startup backed by Safaricom, is now a B2B firm . This is because its product, Sendy Transport, is now only available to businesses. Now, only businesses will be able to use Sendy Transport. “Convert your account by September 30,” an SMS sent by the company to its last remaining B2C customers says.
Before this move, Sendy Transport was the only thing that people were still using from the startup. This indicates that Sendy has transitioned into a business-to-business (B2B) model, as all of its products, including Sendy Transport, Sendy Supply, and Sendy Fulfillment, now cater exclusively to the needs of businesses.
Our goal has always been to make businesses’ trade easy, so we made Sendy Transport for businesses and corporations. As a result, we will continue to improve it to solve and support our corporate customers’ pain points,” according to a statement provided to TechCabal.
2015, Sendy made its official debut as an on-demand delivery platform that linked customers to a network of transporters to deliver goods.
The startup was created to digitally change the logistics industry in Kenya, but it has run into many problems since it began. For instance, in 2016, after only two months of operation, the company decided to shut down its boda-boda or taxi-hailing business due to the increased level of competition in the taxi industry in Kenya.
TechCabal was informed in August by the Nairobi-based startup that it would be terminating the jobs of 10 per cent of its workforce of 300 people. As stated by the Chief Executive Officer of Mesh Alloys, the decision was made as a reaction to “the current realities impacting tech companies globally.”
Some of its competitors, like Kobo360 and Lori Systems, both based in Nigeria, have had trouble in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions that came with it.
These companies have had to change their plans. Even though Sendy said that the pandemic brought new problems to the logistics industry, it started dealing with them. A document that Sendy gave to TechCabal says, “This created a new reality and sped up our growth in ways that made it easier for retailers to do business.”In 2021, the company expanded its operations to Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire, despite the difficulties presented by the pandemic.
The company announced in 2021 that it intended to raise one hundred million dollars in 2022 to finance its expansion plan to countries such as Egypt, Ghana, South Africa, and Nigeria. But so far, it has only raised a total of $26.5 million from 13 investors.
The global tech downturn has made venture capitalists less likely to pour money into startups. In addition, TechCabal was informed by sources with knowledge of the situation that Sendy, which presently conducts business in the countries of Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, and Ivory Coast, has decided to halt its expansion into Egypt and South Africa.
Sendy offers a variety of products to help businesses in the areas of selling, moving goods, and obtaining financing. Businesses can move small packages, medium-sized goods, or large cargo with the assistance of Sendy Transport.
Sendy Supply offers credit financing to businesses and makes it possible for them to purchase stock from multiple manufacturers at competitive prices. Businesses, primarily online and large eCommerce brands, can store and distribute their products using Sendy Fulfillment.
As venture capital funding dries up, startups like Sendy are looking for the clearest way to make money. This could be one of those moves. We are not changing any part of how we do business. Our current model supports our long-term plan to keep making our products easy to use for businesses. “All of our products are currently geared toward achieving this goal,” the rest of the sentence says.
