Long-term Sendle investor Federation Asset Management has confirmed that one of the two US partners in last August’s 3-way merger into Fast Group failed to disclose its true financial position at the time, leading to the sudden demise of the Australian scaleup and its parent company.
Sendle announced suddenly over the weekend that it was suspending all deliveries and pickups from Monday, January 11, sending chaos through local small business supply chains that relied on the courier delivery platform to ship their goods. Bookings ready for pickup this week were cancelled. Deliveries in transit have been left to the discretion of the courier companies involved, some of whom have indicated they won’t do the jobs.
On Saturday, directors the Fast Group resolved to wind down the California-based company. In August 2025, US logistics business ACI Logistix undertook a scrip-for-scrip acquisition of Sendle and another US business FirstMile to form Fast Group. The merged entity had operations in the US, Australia, Canada, India and the Philippines.
In a statement to Startup Daily, Federation said it “believed the merger to be accretive to its existing investment in Sendle and, on that basis, underwrote additional capital investments both at the time of, and following, the merger”.
Federation first invested in Sendle’s $20 million Series B in 2019, and subsequent rounds, but froze redemptions from its $100 million Federation Alternatives Investment Fund II late last year, citing a crisis at Fast Group amid concerns that the company was facing bankruptcy. Federation is a major investor in Sendle, had a minority stake in Fast, although 64% of Fund II sat in that investment.
The investor reportedly tried to assist with $12 million in emergency operating capital for the merged business to stabilise operation, replacing the CFO and appointing a chief restructuring officer.
“Since the merger it has emerged that ACI Logistix was not current on its financial obligations at the time of the merger, contrary to representations made to Federation during the due diligence process,” Federation’s statement said.
“The merged entity’s operating performance had since been adversely affected by strained supplier relationships arising from non-compliance with payment obligations.”
Media reports have cited a $20 million bill for DoorDash deliveries among Fast Group’s liabilities, and the business was looking for US$60 million in debt financing from hedge funds and distressed debt specialists.
Federation said it “is continuing to act on behalf of its investors to maximise potential recoveries. The quantum and timing of any recoveries are uncertain.”
The misleading of investors on ACI Logistix’s financial position came just five months after the implosion of Melbourne startup Strongroom AI amid accusations they key investor EVP was misled about the company’s true financial state. The medication management software startup raised $17 million last March, with EVP tipping in $10.4m. But less that two weeks later, fraud concerns emerged, and just days later, the startup was placed in administration. EVP launched Federal Court legal action to try and recover its investment – the case continues in Sydney next month – and in the meantime, a liquidator is picking over the bones of the former company (it lives on under new owners) to determine what went wrong and if there were any breaches of the Corporations Act.
Fast Group has not applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US, which lets a business to continue operating as it restructures financially and cuts a deal with creditors on repayments. This is the last mile for Fast and Sendle.
It’s not yet known what will happen to the assets of the three businesses, which operated under their own brands, but after leaving 1000s of customers in the lurch, it’s unlikely that Sendle will have a Lazarus moment, although the software platform, which connects businesses with courier supplies, may hold some value for a local logistics business.
Sendle founded in 2014, raised more than $100 million in venture investments, including a $45m Series C in 2021 led by ASX laggard Touch Ventures (previously AP Ventures). Other backers include Rampersand, Giant Leap, Alberts Impact Capital, Marinya Capital and the NRMA motoring group.
ACI Logistix president Kevin Collins told US site Supply Chain Dive that Fast Group only in the early stages of the integration process amid a changing logistics environment.
“Towards the end, we ran out of time and couldn’t secure the right type of investment to grow to the next level,” he said.
“So the decision was made at the board level to wind operations down, and that’s where we are.”
Supply Chain Drive did not report on or quote Collins on claims that ACI Logistix failed to disclose its true financial state ahead of the merger.
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