Barely two weeks after going under administration, e-commerce platform, Copia has reportedly stopped its delivery service in six towns as the company continues its restructuring attempts.
Copia has slashed its market reach in Meru, Embu, Kericho, Eldoret, Machakos, and Naivasha. Workers in these stations have been relieved of their duties pending a final resolution – but it is unlikely that they would be reinstated any time soon.This is because the company had announced mid-March that it would lay off more than 1,000 employees to resize itself amidst a persistent cash crunch.
“We regret that we have to stop serving these locations at this time as we resize and reshape the business, but we expect that we will in the future return to these areas,” said an email from Copia’s Director of Human Resource, Ann Mwihaki.
In late May, Copia entered into administration by appointing Makenzi Muthusi and KPMG auditor Julius Ngonga to manage affairs as the company sought survival funding.
The two administrators are mandated to cut costs that would hasten the company’s demise, as well as evaluate possible strategies to save the startup. An email from Muthusi has clarified why staff salaries for May remain unpaid, explaining that it was due to the inability to “complete administrative tasks relating to bank accounts.”
Copia’s financial woes are baffling because it was one of the continent’s startups that received immense funding to a tune of US$ 123 million since its establishment in 2013. Its bleak future appears reflective of Sendy’s fate that was sealed last year.
“As a follow-up to our previous communication on the administration process, as a reminder, the objectives of the administration are to maintain the company as a going concern, and the administrators continue to work with management to raise capital from new investors for the Kenya business,” Ann Mwihaki added.
Copia’s ambitions were first cratered last year after it closed its Ugandan station after a year. As the company was unable to mobilize more funds, operations became difficult and revenue suffered a downturn.
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