E-commerce platform Copia, which targets low-income households has reportedly fired about 50 people from its workforce.
According to people privy to the matter, the company cut the said number of people as the tech industry continues to lay off tens of thousands of people across the globe.
Copia, which raised USD 50 million in a Series C drive back in 2021, has been on an expansion path and had planned to launch in Nigeria and Ghana.
It has since entered the Ugandan market.
Copia has also been exploring other business channels, such as the opening of sugar and rice production facilities. It had reported that the facilities would be key to allowing it to boost its output of affordable sugar and rice for the Kenyan market.
Towards the end of 2022, Copia was recognized for its innovative approach to providing solutions to farmers in Kenya via its e-Commerce business.
The company has also received official certification from the Kenya Veterinary Board (KVB) that would enable it to offer a wider array of services to the growing number of its customers engaged in the agricultural sector.
Past communications have also revealed that Copia has been performing well. For example, it reportedly offers more than 4,000 products to the Kenyan and Ugandan markets. The firm stated that it may be able to deliver these products to consumers with no logistics charges.
The company adds that it has fulfilled more than 13 million orders in the two markets. It also has an agent network of more than 38,000. These agents are mostly shopkeepers who serve as delivery points.
Copia joins a number of other local tech companies that have fired a section of their staff members.
One of them is Kune Food, which closed shop after raising tens of millions of shillings. Before it left the business in June 2022, it already fired 70 percent of its staff.
Sendy had also announced that it had halted supply services. This also came at a cost because the company was forced to let go of 20 percent of its staff. It is now focusing on fulfillment services.
Twiga Foods equally downsized. The layoffs affected 21 percent of the staff, which was about 210 employees.
