Sendy was a Nairobi-based last-mile logistics startup founded in 2014 by Meshack Alloys and Don Okoth. The company set out to solve a persistent problem in Kenyan commerce: the absence of a reliable, affordable, and tech-enabled delivery infrastructure connecting businesses to customers. Sendy's model was often described as "Uber for deliveries" - a platform that matched businesses needing goods transported with a network of independent drivers, riders, and vehicles. Through a mobile app and web dashboard, businesses could request pickups and track deliveries in real time, bypassing the informal and unreliable courier networks that had long dominated Kenyan logistics.
The founding team built Sendy at a moment when Silicon Savannah was gaining international attention and venture capital was beginning to flow more freely into East African startups. Alloys, the CEO, brought operational experience, while Okoth contributed technical expertise. The company initially focused on Nairobi's chaotic but commercially dense delivery landscape, serving e-commerce businesses, restaurants, and retailers who needed same-day or next-day fulfillment. Sendy's early traction was impressive - it signed contracts with major corporations and became a preferred logistics partner for companies like Unilever and other FMCG distributors operating in Kenya.
Sendy raised approximately $26.5 million in total funding across multiple rounds. Early backers included Atlantica Ventures, Toyota Tsusho, and several other international investors. The company's $20 million Series B round in 2022, led by Atlantica Ventures, represented a moment of euphoria - it was one of the larger raises by a Kenyan logistics startup and seemed to validate the thesis that African last-mile delivery was a venture-scale opportunity. With the new capital, Sendy expanded aggressively beyond Nairobi into other Kenyan cities and across East African markets, including Uganda and Tanzania. The company also broadened its service offerings, moving into warehousing, fulfillment, and cross-border logistics.
But the expansion outpaced revenue growth. Sendy's burn rate climbed sharply as it tried to build infrastructure and acquire customers across multiple markets simultaneously. The fundamental unit economics of last-mile delivery in East Africa proved punishing - low average order values, poor road infrastructure outside major cities, and intense price sensitivity among both businesses and consumers made profitability elusive. By early 2023, the company was struggling to raise a follow-on round. The global venture capital downturn that began in late 2022 hit African startups particularly hard, and investors who had been bullish on logistics pulled back.
In mid-2023, Sendy shut down operations entirely. The closure was abrupt and painful. Drivers and riders who had depended on the platform for income were left stranded. Employees lost jobs with little warning. Business clients scrambled to find alternative delivery solutions. The collapse of Sendy became one of the most discussed startup failures in Silicon Savannah, joining a growing list of well-funded Kenyan companies - including Copia Global - that raised significant capital but could not solve the economics of serving African markets at scale. The Sendy story illustrated a recurring tension in African tech: venture capital demands rapid growth and scale, but the infrastructure gaps and thin margins in African logistics make that growth inherently expensive and fragile. For founders and investors across the ecosystem, Sendy became a cautionary case study in the dangers of over-expansion before achieving sustainable unit economics.
See Also
Sources
- Bright, Jake. "Sendy raises $20M Series B to expand logistics platform across Africa." TechCrunch, 2022.
- Kazeem, Yinka. "Kenya's Sendy shuts down after burning through $26.5M in funding." Rest of World, July 2023.
- Herbling, David. "Last-Mile Logistics Startup Sendy Ceases Operations in Kenya." Bloomberg, 2023.