Following last week's reports of Copia Global and the parent company of Copia Kenya considering shutting down, the B2C e-commerce platform has entered administration. Copia Global has appointed Makenzi Muthusi and Julius Ngonga from KPMG to handle the process.
Going into administration is a process designed to protect the company and directors from legal action and provide the administrator with the opportunity to assess the future viability of a business, whether it can ultimately be saved or whether it is better to liquidate.
Copia Global, which raised $123 million across eight funding rounds, failed to secure new funding, putting its operations and over 1,000 jobs at stake. The firm said on May 24 that the administrator will work to raise funding for Copia's Kenyan unit.
Also, under the administrators' guidance, Copia Kenya will push for a lower burn rate, aim for profitability sooner, and cater to the increasingly digital consumer.
Consequently, Copia Kenya will switch from physical order processing to an online fulfilment model using its mobile app to reduce expenses and streamline operations.
Recent trends in Kenya's startup ecosystem reveal that Copia is not the only business facing troubling times. Several well-funded Kenyan startups have shuttered due to funding woes, joining a growing list of casualties in the competitive market.
