Nigerian proptech startup Spleet secures $2.6m in seed funding to expand product offerings
By Chisom Nwatu
Nigerian proptech startup Spleet has secured $2.6 million in a funding round led by Mac Venture Capital.
Existing investors from Spleet’s pre-seed round Metaprop VC and HoaQ Fund, as well as new investors Noemis Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures, Metaprop VC, HoaQ Fund, Assembly Fund, Ajim Capital, Francis Fund, Daba Finance, Eduardo Campos and Paulo Buchicher of Yuca, and Maajed Chaaaraoui of insurami also took part in the round.
The startup, founded in 2018 by Dolapo Adebayo and Akintola Adesanmi, plans to use the funds to expand its product offerings for landlords, real estate brokers, and tenants across Nigeria and to explore other markets.
Specifically, Spleet will deploy the fresh funds into expanding its product offering to include Collect, a service that automatically receives rent payments on behalf of landlords; Verify, a tool that enables landlords and real estate agents to vet and carry out adequate background checks on tenants before offering lease agreements, and Rent Now Pay Later, a no collateral, affordable-interest rate rental loan product.
“We are proud to partner with the proptech company as it continues to bring forward a comprehensive solution that effectively serves both sides of the housing market and makes true deposits to combating homelessness in Africa,” said Marlon Nichols, managing general partner, MaC Venture Capital.
Spleet’s CEO Adesanmi said the fresh fundraise would go into deepening the company’s product offerings for landlords, real estate agents and tenants across Nigeria and testing out new markets.
Speaking on how the company had bootstrapped before raising fund, Adesanmi said the company’s solution on the tenant side was a no-brainer.
“It was the landlords who needed convincing, but it helped that we already had a network of landlords. So instead of going out and raising venture capital, we decided that we were going to bootstrap because we could convince some landlords to list their homes on this platform that we had built and derisk some of their problems,” he said.
Spleet launched a marketplace in 2019 to connect landlords with pre-screened tenants when a renter seeks flexible rent payment choices. It also gives those looking for housing flexible rental options.
In March, it raised $625,000 in a pre-seed round to offer rent financing and tenant verification solutions for Africans.
The proptech offers completely furnished subscription-based living spaces to assist those looking for housing and lower their living expenses. The service that also provides co-sharing possibilities includes rent, electricity, and cleaning costs.
Since its launch, according to Spleet, it has handled millions of dollars in rent, sheltered more than 1,000 tenants, and signed up more than 35 private and corporate landlords.