It is generally acknowledged that Lagos has a serious housing shortage issue. The state’s large size and high population density are the root causes of the housing shortage. With a population of 15.4 million, Lagos, the smallest state in Nigeria, is also the most populous city in Africa. Lagos’ housing crisis has been addressed by the Nigerian prop-tech startup Spleet since its founding in 2018.
The startup originally intended to be a marketplace where prospective tenants could meet landlords and arrange monthly rent payments. However, after realizing that the model could not scale, it changed its focus to an embedded finance solution. The ability to rent properties and pay monthly rent is now available thanks to Spleet, which also gives landlords the choice to receive rent payments annually.
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Before considering expansion, Spleet wants to consolidate its position in the Nigerian rental market for the next 12 to 18 months after housing more than 1,000 people in Lagos alone. Spleet was considering the East African market for growth, with a focus on Kenya, said Akintola Adesanmi, co-founder and CEO of Spleet,
Adesanmi asserts that Spleet can only offer an accessibility solution at this time. Spleet originally sought to address the accessibility and affordability issues in the rental market. “We consider ourselves to be a conduit. We can’t solve affordability on a large scale, but accessibility is something we can deal with right now, he said. Adesanmi continued by saying that he thought that over time, affordability would be addressed with increased accessibility.
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Google announced last month that it had chosen 60 African startups for the second cohort of its Google for Startups Black Founders Fund. The startups will receive equity-free funding ranging from $50,000 to $100,000, as well as up to $200,000 in Google Cloud credit. Spleet was one of the chosen startups, and Adesanmi stated that the Google program came at a good time for the company. He stated that the Google Cloud credit would help Spleet reduce costs when it launches its new platform in a few weeks.