Kenyan startup Sendy has announced that it is shutting down ‘Sendy supply’, one of its products that enable easy trade between buyers and sellers within the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry.
The startup disclosed that this move was necessitated as the company intends to shift its focus to another product, ‘Sendy Fulfillment’, noting that the cost of this shift in its business model will see the employment of 54 people or 20% of the company’s workforce.
This move, according to a statement made by the company’s co-founder and CEO Mesh Alloys, is part of a wider strategic focus to “consolidate efforts around solutions that impact more customers and speak to the current and immediate market challenges.”
Alloys further stated that the firm will now be solely focused on ‘Sendy Fulfillment’, the company’s product that allows online brands and large eCommerce brands to store and distribute their products.
He said, “With the growing uptake of digital commerce and recognizing the opportunities it presents for businesses, we are doubling down on Fulfillment to support online merchants with the necessary tools to sell and fulfill directly through digital platforms”.
Back in July, the company laid off 10% of its 300 staff. The company CEO Alloys in a statement stated that it made the move to respond to the “current realities impacting tech companies globally”, which forced the company to rethink how it is doing business, and cut costs.
Ever since the last layoff in July, the startup has been working effortlessly to ensure continuous acceleration despite the layoff and the tech downturn that has made some processes difficult.
Launched in 2014, Sendy connects customers with packages to dispatch riders and truck drivers via their mobile app. Customers can track the location of their packages in real-time via the mobile app.
