Sendy, a Kenyan logistics startup, has raised $20 million in a Series B funding round. Atlantica Ventures led the round that was supported by Mobility 54, an Africa-focused fund from Toyota Tsusho Corporation. Toyota will, through its venture capital Mobility 54, assist in optimizing the capacity of Sendy’s trucks. The car manufacturing company will set up vehicle service centers in partnership with Sendy.
Other participants in the round include Sunu Capital, Enza Capital, Vester World, and Kepple Capital. With the latest funding round, Sendy has now raised $29 million since inception. Sendy will use the funds for recruitment, expansion, and technology development.
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Mesh Alloys, Evanson Biwott, Don Okkoth, and Malaika Judd founded Sendy in 2015. The company is an on-demand logistics platform that connects customers to haulage services for delivery purposes. It renders e-commerce and enterprise and freight services to Unilever, Maersk, Safaricom, DHL, Jumia, etc.
Sendy operates offices in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. It currently has about 5000 vehicles signed up across existing markets and plans to expand to West Africa in 2020. The drivers enrolled on its platform are provided with health insurance, vehicle financing, and fuel credits.
The mobile app helps customers track vehicle owners, confirm delivery orders, create performance metrics, and manage payment. Vehicle owners also use the mobile app to register their trucks for logistics services. In return, Sendi gets a percentage on every transaction.
The logistics sector has received considerable investment in recent times. In 2019 alone, Kobo360 secured $20 million Series A backed by Goldman Sachs, while Lori Systems raised $30 million from Chinese investors.
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