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Cash-Strapped Sendy In Talks To Be Acquired
Kenyan logistics startup, Sendy, has announced that it is shutting down its operations and exploring a sale of its assets.
As quoted by TechCrunch, Meshack Alloys, Sendy co-founder confirmed that the company is indeed shutting down operations and working on its acquisition.
“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 further details at this time,” Alloys said.
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According to several sources, the company ran out of funds two months ago and had been scrambling to cut costs for the past year to remain afloat. Last month, it announced a 10% cut of its workforce which it attributed to ‘current realities impacting tech companies globally’.
The staff has then been pruned further in more cost-cutting measures including shuttering a product line and exiting a market. Last October, the Kenyan startup laid off 54 employees and wound down its supply service — and this February, it exited its end-to-end fulfillment offering in Nigeria, a market it entered two years ago.
Last year, Sendy had targeted to raise $100 million but it only got a fraction of the funding from MOL PLUS. Since the deal, Sendy has been exploring other options to shore up its business these past few months, including seeking fresh capital and a buyer.
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The Kenyan startup, valued at over $80 million late last year, was in talks with several investors to raise additional capital a few months back but at a lower valuation of $40 million to $60 million. However, one of its key investors backed out of the transaction, leaving Sendy short on funds for the last two to three months, including funds to cover salaries and is now attempting to sell some of its assets.
Sendy was co-founded in 2015 by Alloys, Evanson Biwott, Don Okoth and Malaika Judd. It has raised $26.5 million in disclosed funding from several investors, including Toyota Tsusho, Atlantica Ventures, VestedWorld, Keppel Capital, Enza Capital, AAICA Investment Pte Ltd, Sunu Capital and Goodwill Investments.