Grace Ashiru
SmallSmall, a property tech firm, has raised $3 million in seed funding to expand operations across Nigeria.
The fund, made up of $2 million in equity and $1 million in debt, will help SmallSmall reach its goal of offering flexible, high-quality housing solutions and financing to people who want to buy a home. It will also help SmallSmall improve its technology and partnerships with landlords, developers, property and asset managers, and other key stakeholders.
Oyster VC, Asymmetry Ventures, Vivaz, and Niche Capital were among the investors who took part in the seed round. Angel investors were Chartboost’s Sean Fannan, Universe’s Adam Meghji, Flutterwave’s Jimmy Ku, Esusu’s Samir Goel and Wemimo Abbey, Iroko’s Jason Njoku, and Vendease’s Tunde Kara.
SmallSmall was founded in 2018 by Tunde Balogun, Naomi Olaghere, and Pidah Tnadah to address rental issues such as time consumption and payment ease.RentSmallSmall began as a property letting product that allows customers to conduct a seamless home search and receive a free inspection. It established Buy2Let, which focuses on real estate investment, and StayOne, which provides quality living spaces with nightly payments.
So far, SmallSmall has booked more than 25,000 monthly stays in Lagos and Abuja. On average, users stay on the platform for 17 months. In 2021, the company was the first African proptech startup to enter the Techstars Toronto Accelerator Program. As part of its pre-seed round, the company got $120,000. It also says that the number of people who don’t pay their rent is less than 7%, saving property owners more than $1.5 million in damages and tenants more than $1.2 million in broker fees.
With SmallSmall, landlords won’t have to worry about renters who don’t pay. In return, landlords can find good tenants and get an extra 10-15% of their monthly payments.
Since 2018, the company says that more than 476,000 people have signed up for its platform, of which 80,000 are on a waiting list, and almost 1,500 have been served. By the end of the first quarter of 2023, it hopes to have grown into Port Harcourt, Enugu, and Jos, three more Nigerian states.
