NIGERIA – Nigerian fintech start-up Kwaba, which helps low and middle-income earners to split their annual rent into convenient monthly installments, has secured a pre-seed round of funding to help it expand across Nigeria and Africa.

The pre-seed round was led by from Co-Creation Hub (CcHub) and other investors, having received investment from Ingressive Capital in 2020.

The start-up will use the fund to continue its expansion plans across Nigeria and Africa to give more people access to its solution.

Founded by Obinna Molokwu in January 2020, Kwaba is a digital platform that helps facilitate home payments for Africans and is aimed at Nigerians looking to pay rent in a modern way that reflects their financial reality.

Kwaba makes home financing easy by enabling savings via convenient monthly installments and instant loan provision.

The start-up also offers services such as apartment search, quick funds at affordable rates, and further credit facilities for the purchase of properties.

Over the last year, Kwaba had rent payment requests of NGN115 billion, with over 30,000 customers. Its mobile app, released in August 2021, has garnered almost 2,000 downloads.

“Kwaba is helping to bridge the gap between property and finance. We understand the economic reality of Nigerian renters and have built our product to reflect this,” said Obinna Molokwu, founder of Kwaba.

“We aim to improve the financial well-being of renters as we grow. For us, this new investment comes at a time when we are looking to strategically reposition and expand our services.”

Added to its services offerings, Kwaba offers apartment search services, quick funds at affordable rates, and further credit facilities for the purchase of properties.

The company’s instant loans are up to 40% of customers’ rent savings, which are insured by NDIC and secured with bank-grade security features.

Kwaba works with PCIDSS compliant payment processors to ensure users’ money and data are safe and fraud-proof. Its partners also include ARM, AXA Mansard, and Paystack.

With the increased economic constraint realized during the post-Covid-19 pandemic, the start-up aims to leverage its technology to help tenants manage the payment of their rents in time.

Liked this article? Subscribe to DealStreet Africa News, our regular email newsletter with the latest news, deals, and insights from Africa’s business, economy, and more. SUBSCRIBE HERE