/Graveyard/Notify Logistics
Notify Logistics
Shared warehouse space.
Epitaph
“Here lies Notify Logistics. It carved rented warehouse floors into hundreds of shelves and leased them to small sellers with nowhere to store their stock. Shelf rents of a few thousand shillings never covered 800,000 shillings a month in floor costs, and it ran out of room in August 2022.”
Overview
- Born
- 2018 (Year)
- Died
- September 2022 (Month)
- Lifespan
- 5 years
- Fate
- Shut down
- Headquarters
- 🇰🇪 Kenya
- Category
- Logistics & Supply Chain, Real Estate & Property
- Stage at death
- Seed
- Primary cause
- Business model or unit economics
- Contributing causes
- Execution
Death certificate
Timeline
- 2018Company founded
Notify Logistics launched its rent-a-shelf model in Kenya.
- August 2021Seed funding
Raises about KSh 45 million (roughly $350K) in seed funding.
- August 2022Shutdown
Closes its Nairobi Moi Avenue flagship (after already closing Mombasa) on August 30, 2022, citing high operating costs.
Autopsy report
Why did Notify Logistics shut down?
Notify Logistics, a Kenyan rent-a-shelf startup that subleased warehouse/retail space to small vendors, shut its flagship Nairobi (Moi Avenue) and Mombasa locations on August 30, 2022, citing unsustainable operating costs — about KSh 800,000 a month for three floors — that it could no longer cover from vendor rents.
What Notify Logistics attempted
Notify Logistics leased warehouse/retail space and subdivided it into hundreds of shelves that it rented monthly to small enterprises and online sellers who could not afford their own physical storefronts, bundling in attendant services and exemption from individual licensing.
What worked
Raised roughly KSh 45 million (about $350K) in seed funding around August 2021 and operated flagship locations in both Nairobi and Mombasa for nearly five years before closing.
Early warning signs
The company faced mounting difficulty managing and collecting from vendors and, according to a director, had begun facing auctioneers over unpaid obligations shortly before the shutdown.
What happened
Monthly costs of about KSh 800,000 for three Nairobi floors proved unsustainable against vendor rents of roughly KSh 1,700-3,000 per month each; after already closing its Mombasa site, the company shut its Moi Avenue Nairobi flagship on August 30, 2022, with director Hellen Nyambura and CEO Waweru Nderitu citing high operating costs and vendor-management strain.
Lessons for future builders
- Subletting space only works when the rents you collect clear the lease you pay, with room left for vacancies and unpaid tenants. Model realistic occupancy and collection rates before signing multi-floor leases, and price each shelf to cover the whole floor.
Your verdict
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Sources
- Startup Notify Logistics shuts down on high costs Business Daily Africa · 31 August 2022
- Notify Logistics: 5-Year-Old Kenyan Startup Shuts Down Citing High Operating Costs Tuko · 2 September 2022
- After Kune Foods, Rent-a-Shelf Startup Notify Logistics Closes Shop Techweez · 1 September 2022
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