Copia, a Kenyan e-commerce platform that serves low-to-moderate income consumers through a network of agents, has up to 1,060 employees due to lack of fresh capital needed to sustain its operations. warned that he could be fired.
The start-up joins other companies such as Twiga Foods and Kune Foods, which have laid off all or a significant portion of their employees amid losses and an inability to raise additional capital, making it the most recent company to go under. It is.
Copia Kenya CEO Tim Steele on Friday addressed workers in a redundancy letter dated May 16, 2024, stating that affected employees will be sent home after one month following the required notice period. Then he said.
“As you are aware, Copia has been suffering from financial constraints for some time. Despite our best efforts to overcome this challenge and explore avenues of additional financing, the The letter states that in order to ensure the sustainability of the company, or even the possibility of its closure, extensive reorganization must be considered.
“If the company were to carry out a restructuring, approximately 1,060 positions would be removed from the company's structure and the services of those occupying those positions would be rendered unnecessary, resulting in the possibility that their employment would be terminated due to redundancy. It's sexual.”
Copia was founded in 2013 by Tracy Turner and Jonathan Lewis.
The e-commerce company operates a model that distributes durable, fast-moving consumer goods such as flour and soap through agents who earn commissions.
Customers order online through Copia's platform or a nearby agent and pay using mobile money or cash. E-commerce companies receive orders and deliver them in two to four days.
Customers pick up their products at local distributors.
The company wanted to revolutionize the retail market by eliminating some of the costs associated with operating a corner shop, such as holding inventory that can take days or weeks to sell.
But Copia faces stiff competition from supermarkets in most parts of the country, which offer a wide range of products for customers to buy instantly.
Most low-income households also prefer traditional small shops where they frequently purchase goods on credit.
Copia plans to send home-based workers to Kenya after laying off 350 of its 1,800 employees in July 2023.
At the time, the company announced that it was forced to restructure its business due to the economic downturn and tight capital markets.
The Kenyan issue comes shortly after its Ugandan sister company closed down in April last year, citing an unfavorable economic environment and limited access to capital.
Parent company Copia Global announced last year that it had halted expansion into Africa. Many African technology companies are struggling to become profitable, spending billions of shillings raised from foreign investors, mainly US venture capital firms.
