Nairobi-based package delivery service Sendy is first in line to receive financial backing from Safaricom's US$1m (approximately Ksh102m) Spark Fund.

Sendy offers a marketplace for last-mile package delivery and logistics services that allow customers to send packages and documents within Nairobi using a mobile application that connects them to motorcycle riders, and drivers of vans and pickup trucks.

The startup was launched only a little over a year ago. Individual customers and businesses making using of its services are able to track the movement and location of their packages in real time using an app or web platform.

Meshack Alloys, CEO of Sendy, said "We intend to use the funds received to invest in our infrastructure, improve our platform, roll out new features and services and grow our team so that we can provide an even better customer experience.".

The Spark Fund was launched in November 2014 and claims to have received over 400 applications since inception.

An on-going evaluation process to identify potential start-ups who will benefit from the Sh90 million venture fund, continues, with each successful start-up expected to receive between Sh6 million and Sh22 million, according to administrators of the fund.

Joe Ogutu, director for strategy and innovation at Safaricom anticipates that Sendy will have a far bigger impact than many can imagine.

"We are very pleased to be investing in Sendy, a business with a young, vibrant, innovative and ambitious team. Through Sendy we believe we are investing in more than just a start-up; we're investing in a business that will transform the lives of everyone it touches, from the customer, to the boda-boda operator to the techie building & maintain the platform,"

The investment will provide Sendy with access to strategic partnerships, network elements, and a mix of marketing opportunities that will help it expand.

"We're excited to be partnering with Safaricom not only on the investment side, but also on the technical side. We've been using M-PESA as our main payment collection method since we launched Sendy and we're pleased to announce that next week we'll be releasing a new seamless payment checkout process that will work directly through Safaricom's newly released M-PESA API," Alloys added.