Fintech startup, Kwaba, making rent payment and homeownership seamless for individuals in Nigeria, has raised an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding to expand beyond the country.
Kwaba makes home financing easy by enabling savings via convenient monthly instalments and instant loan provision. The new fund will open doors for more people to access the fintech company’s solution.
Obinna Molokwu founded the digital platform in January 2020 to help Nigerians reduce the difficulty encountered in this aspect of rent payment, through innovative solutions that reflect their financial reality.
Added to its services offerings, Kwaba offers apartment search services, quick funds at affordable rates, and further credit facilities for the purchase of properties. Kwaba affirms to have had rent payment requests of N115 billion, with over 30,000 customers since inception. Its mobile app, released in August 2021, has garnered almost 2,000 downloads.
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.
Kwaba’s undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding came from Co-Creation Hub (CcHub) among other investors, having received investment from Ingressive Capital in 2020. The startup also took part in the LABS by ARM accelerator held in 2020, receiving $20,000 in additional funding.
“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. 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,” said Molukwu.
