Technology is revolutionizing businesses and shaping industries globally. In the financial services industry, for instance, new generation companies are thinking outside the box, and are constantly exploring how technology can make financial transactions accessible, cheaper, convenient, and faster, thereby ultimately driving financial inclusion for all. The same narrative plays out in the health, logistics, retail, and a number of other industries across the world.
Even though real estate, like other traditional industries, has not changed very much in decades, the sector is beginning to get a face-lift, and we are excited to see Nigerian companies thriving under the new technology wave. As Forbes would define it, proptech is simply “businesses using technology to disrupt and improve the way we buy, rent, sell, design, construct, manage and make decisions on property investments.” To me, proptech is simply challenging orthodox thinking in the property space, and over the past few years, a number of proptech companies have emerged in Nigeria, bringing the age-long shifts that the sector has been waiting for. What is even more exciting is that some of these companies are making it to the global stage.
Funding in the fintech space started with less than a million dollars (major notable funding was a $700k Angel Investor fund in Paga in September 2010). Between 2011 and 2018, the fintech industry in Nigeria saw $204million in funding, and over half of that ($103.4million) came in 2018 alone, according to a report by PwC. Through 2019 and 2021, fintech companies have raised billions of dollars in funding. Although proptech in 2021 is just starting to gain traction, over $2million has already been raised by these 5 proptech companies we want to profile, and we expect that a similar narrative will play out over the next few years. Here are Nigeria’s 5 proptech startups that recently got into the global space.
Eden Life raised $1.4m to expand its home services operation across Africa.
Founders: Nadayar Enegesi, Prosper Otemuyiwa, and Silm Momoh
Company Name: Eden Life
Sector: Food, Laundry and Cleaning Services
Key Regions: Nigeria
Highlighted Investors: Local Globe and others.
The company which started in 2019 is redesigning the service industry by allowing busy professionals the opportunity to get their food cooked and delivered fresh, as well as laundry, and home cleaning services with no friction.
2 years after starting the company with a $600,000 pre-seed funding from family and friends, Eden Life is positioned to scale and consolidate its market share through a $1.4million dollar seed funding. This funding round was pioneered by Local Globe, a U.K.-based venture capital firm, while Africa-focused VCs Samurai Incubate, Future Africa, Village Global, Rising Tide Africa, and Enza Capital also participated.
Estate Intel got into Metaprop in August 2021, with a $250,000 investment from the world’s foremost proptech accelerator.
Founders: Dolapo Omidire
Company Name: Estate Intel Inc
Sector: Data and Analytics
Key Regions: Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire
Highlighted Investors: MetaProp.
Estate Intel is a data platform that helps organisations interacting with the real estate and construction industry make faster and smarter decisions. The research and data company which started as a blog in 2016, joined Metaprop, the largest Proptech Accelerator Program in the world. The 22-week program, which commenced on the 13th of September, is focused on driving business growth and accelerated market penetration.
As part of the program, Estate Intel will receive up to $250,000 funding, which was part of a larger capital raise exercise that recently closed. According to the Founder-Dolapo Omidire, the funding will help the company to scale and achieve its goal of becoming the source of truth for African real estate data and insights.
Rent Small Small is Africa’s first proptech company to join Techstars Accelerator, Canada.
Founders: Tunde Balogun, Naomi Olaghere, and Pidah Tnadah
Company Name: Rent Small Small
Sector: Rental Marketplace. Financing
Key Regions: Nigeria
Highlighted Investors: TechStars Colliers.
Rent Small Small started in 2018 and provides people the opportunity for monthly rental payment which is in sync with the wage system in Nigeria. According to the company, they have helped renters save N550 million on legal and agency fees with over 12,000 monthly stays across 18 locations in Lagos State, Nigeria.
The 13-week program began yesterday, the 18th of October, 2021, and will end with a demo day pitch to investors affiliated with Techstars. According to the CEO-Tunde Balogun, the network, skills, and resources from Techstars are what they will be able to leverage as they gear up for greatness.
Spleet is Africa’s first startup to join Metaprop.
Founders: Akintola Adesanmi and Dolapo Adebayo
Company Name: Spleet Inc
Sector: Rental Marketplace and Rental Financing
Key Regions: Nigeria, Ghana
Highlighted Investors: MetaProp, Future Africa.
Spleet is a rental platform that currently provides flexible rental payment opportunities to people in Lagos, Nigeria. The company which started in 2017 has been offering an all-bill-inclusive flexible rental experience with a mission to build the future of structured and equitable access to housing; what it describes as a future where everyone gets a fair chance at efficient and affordable living spaces.
Spleet is the first African Startup to make it to the 22-week Metaprop Accelerator program which hosted other startups including Estate Intel and 7 others across the globe. The company will also be getting up to $250,000 funding from Metaprop. According to the CEO-Akintola Adesanmi, the program will help the company accelerate its growth as well as shine a light on the proptech startup ecosystem in Africa, even as they plan to expand into other cities across the continent.
Yahshud Property Investment got $100k funding from Platform Capital.
Founders: Abdul-Jabbar Oyekan, and Ezekiel Adamu
Company Name: Yahshud Property Investment
Sector: Financing
Key Regions: Nigeria
Highlighted Investors: Platform Capital.
Yahshud is a real estate crowdfunding platform that is focused on providing a platform for small investors with limited capital to add real estate to their investment portfolio and participate in the typically sophisticated market with high barriers to entry.
Although Platform Capital has a Nigerian origin, the Venture Capital firm has expanded within and outside the continent with investments in Mexico, Ghana, and many other countries around the world. According to Yahshud, the investment from Platform Capital will enhance the management team, onboard new partners, improve its technology, and support the company’s future expansion across Africa.
It’s been an interesting journey for some of these companies, and we are proud of how they are pushing regardless of the many challenges. We are much more eager to see some growth happen over the next few years.
