Sendy, Kenya’s logistics startup space gained multi-million-dollar funding totaling to $26.5 million from seven funding rounds to Penetrate the African market.
The Nairobi-based company, which facilitates door-to-door deliveries between individuals and businesses, will use the funds to commence business in the new markets, including Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana and South Africa.
Sendy offers services for e-commerce, enterprise, and freight delivery for a client list that includes Unilever, DHL, Maersk, Safaricom and African online retailer Jumia.
The company uses an asset-free model, with an app that coordinates contract drivers who own their own vehicles,taking only 13% of the transaction while confirming deliveries, creating performance metrics and managing payment.
The logistics company, partnered with end-to-end digital insurance platform Lami Technologies to offer its driver simple, hassle-free affordable insurance products on a per-trip basis. The drivers are offered services such as insurance, health insurance, vehicle financing, vehicle servicing and fuel credits.
Through the partnership with Lami technologies, transporters are now able to digitize their insurance policy requirements through Sendy’s online freight dashboard for shipment across the country or within East Africa to a tune of cargo value at US$45,277.
Sendy received the latest funding of $20 million in a Series B fund led by Atlantica Ventures with Toyota Tsusho Corporation,also joining the round.
The company plans to use its Series B funding for new hires and to upgrade its tech as it said getting better operational efficiency is super key, so it will invest in engineering teams and data team and deploying talent to improve the services that it gives its customers.
The logistics company backed by Toyota Tsusho Corp, is seeking growth and partnerships amid the continent’s push to boost trade through the African Continental Free Trade Agreement. The World Bank forecasts the accord will increase trade within the region by 80% to $532 billion by 2035, partly helped by improved technology-driven efficiency. The long-term plan is to consolidate logistics in Africa.
With growing competition from all over the continent from companies like Kobo360 and Lori Systems, Sendy expressed their confidence in their systems saying their customer service is superior which is driven by their technology as they are miles ahead of their competition today when it comes to tech.
