Parent Company of Copia Kenya Enters Administration Amid Funding Woes

Summary:

• Copia Global, the parent company of Copia Kenya, has entered administration after failing to secure new funding, putting over 1,000 jobs at risk. The company, which raised $123 million across eight funding rounds, will lay off employees and shift to an online fulfillment model to cut costs. Copia’s financial struggles led to a reduction in operations and workforce over the past year, and the company has now appointed KPMG to manage the administration process.

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Copia Global, a B2C e-commerce platform and the parent company of Copia Kenya, has entered administration just one week after a TechCabal report revealed it was considering shutting down. Makenzi Muthusi and Julius Ngonga of KPMG have been appointed to manage the administration process, according to a statement shared with TechCabal.

Despite raising $123 million across eight funding rounds, Copia Global failed to secure new funding, jeopardizing its operations and over 1,000 jobs. On May 24, the company announced that the administrator would work to raise funding specifically for Copia’s Kenyan unit.

“Copia Global, the parent company of Copia Kenya, was unable to attract capital on terms that were amenable to all existing stakeholders, funders, and investors. Copia Global is now winding down, leaving the Copia Kenya business in a new position to raise capital directly,” the company stated.

To “create a position for growth,” Copia will lay off an unspecified number of employees. On May 16, CEO Tim Steel had informed employees that over 1,000 staff might be laid off.

In a bid to cut costs, Copia Kenya will cease physical order processing, shifting instead to an online fulfillment model via its mobile app. “Under the mandate of the Administrator, the Copia Kenya management team will implement a plan with a lower burn rate, an accelerated path to profitability, and a focus on the increasingly digital consumer,” Copia added.

Founded by Tracy Turner and Jonathan Lewis in 2013, Copia aimed to serve customers in remote areas through a network of agents. However, the company struggled to meet its obligations, including paying salaries, leading to its closure after a decade. Signs of financial strain began to show in 2023, with the company, at its peak, employing 1,800 people and working with 50,000 agents in Kenya and Uganda.

In July 2023, Copia reduced its operations and laid off 350 staff, following an earlier reduction of 50 employees as part of a cost-cutting drive. The company also closed its Uganda operations and scaled back its ambitious expansion plans into Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, and Mozambique.

Copia joins a list of well-funded Kenyan ventures, such as Wefarm and Zumi, that have closed after failing to raise fresh capital. Others like Sendy and iProcure are under administration, while Twiga Foods and Marketforce are struggling, hoping to attract new investors.

Copia, along with Twiga Foods ($186 million), stands as one of Kenya’s most funded e-commerce platforms. The shutdown is a significant blow to CEO Tim Steel, who took over from co-founder Tracy Turner in 2017 and has been committed to making Copia a success.

“I think I fear not succeeding with Copia. Not turning it into that billion-dollar company. Having invested so much time, effort, blood, sweat, and tears into it,” Steel told Business Daily in June 2023.

This is a developing story.

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