Connect with us

Fund Raising

Eden Life Secures $1.4M Seed Funding to Build Africa’s First Home Services App

Published

on

Eden-Life the concierge of comfort-Investors-King

Africa’s foremost home services app, Eden Life, has completed a $1.4 million seed round. The funding round was led by UK-based LocalGlobe. Some organisations that also participated include Future Africa, Samurai Incubate, Village Global, Rising Tide Africa and Enza Capital.

Eden Life is an Africa’s home services app used for scheduling food, laundry and cleaning services. The seed funding brings Eden Life’s total investment so far to $2 million after the pre-seed support from all of Andela’s original co-founders, and additional accelerator program over the last 18 months.

The recent capital raised will be used to build Eden Life’s in-house technology, and develop world-class kitchens and operations hubs. The new tech-based platform will improve and grow Africa’s service industry.

Eden Life app was established in 2019 by three former Andelans, and nicknamed “the concierge of comfort.” The app was built for busy Lagos professionals who are hard-pressed for a time due to long working hours. This makes them struggle to source dependable, efficient and trustworthy home service providers.

The app offers users a subscription service that delivers high-quality chef-cooked meals, home cleaning, laundry service and as well as tracking progress on all their services. The app is available on Google Play and the App Store. Users who subscribe to one or more of the services can set the frequency of the services they want to be delivered.

An average Eden Life user typically uses two services five times per week and most first-timers usually start off with food delivery before picking up additional services. The target audience includes remote workers, creatives, tech engineers, developers and executives.

Eden Life is removing barriers to finding reliable household services in the city and has already picked up 600+ customers. They have a growing loyal following with a 92 percent monthly retention rate with over 70 percent of new customers coming via referrals.

Eden Life’s proprietary technology platform enables users to continually give feedback on all aspects of service, using data to compile preferences and offer suggestions through user feedback. The app includes delivery time tracking, payments and billing, and user notifications.

The chores are overseen by “Gardeners” – the human side of Eden Life, who are trained professionals who work with Eden Life service providers and end-users to ensure there’s a seamless service and transaction. The app’s robust architecture has enabled Eden Life to deliver more than 60,000 services since its launch.

“For many of our users, if they’re cooking or running errands, they’re not being productive; they don’t want distractions from their work, which is where Eden Life comes in,” said Nadayar Enegesi, Co-Founder at Eden Life and Co-founder at Andela. “We understand this scenario all too well. We are those people – so we basically designed a product with us in mind and realised that collectively, we are a pretty large market in Nigeria and have subsequently scaled Eden with other professionals from all walks of life who need simple tasks done with no fuss.”

Enegesi continued: “While we can’t create more time physically, we are offering access to a platform that delivers a seamless mix of household services so that busy professionals can focus on their work and leisure. We’re excited to scale our platform to offer so much more, and continue to offer some of the highest quality services underpinned by world-class technology and a highly trained team of professionals.”

A vertical integration strategy, fuelled by the seed funding, will ensure Eden can own and manage its entire supply chain and deliver its services without the need for third-party providers by having a physical footprint where chefs prepare meals, laundry can be processed quickly and cleaners receive training to provide a high-quality service.

Having launched with three core services – those most fundamental to making the home a sanctuary – Eden Life will be rolling out many more over the coming months to make the app a one-stop tool to manage household chores and personal life.

“We fell in love with Eden Life’s vision for the future of home services in Africa. A true customer obsession sits at the heart of everything they are building – this is already visible in customer retention and other key metrics,” said Remus Brett, General Partner at LocalGlobe. “As investors, we are always attracted to first-mover companies that launch products in untapped markets. The combination of this advantage with a core team who has proven experience building African tech to unrivaled levels sets Eden Life on an exciting path of growth.”

Recognised as one of the fastest-growing continents globally, Africa is projected to have 100 cities with a population of over 1 million people by 2025. The continent also has the fastest-growing middle class with rapidly increasing spending power, due to its growing tech sector. Eden Life wants to revolutionise the home service market by making life easier for time-poor tech professionals and executives. This will help channel their time into more productive activities and more quality leisure time.

About Eden

Eden is Africa’s first home services app designed for busy professionals and executives without time to carry out household chores. Launched in 2019, the company delivers the highest quality chef-cooked meals, laundry and cleaning services at the tap of a finger across Lagos.

Continue Reading
Comments

Fund Raising

Logistics Startup Fez Delivery Raises $1 Million Seed Fund to Expand Operations

Published

on

startup - Investors King

Technology-driven company that provides hassle-free last-mile logistics services to businesses and individuals across Africa, Fez Delivery has raised $1 million in a seed round to deepen its products offering and expand operations to other African markets.

The funding round was led by Ventures Platform, with participation from other investors such as Voltron Capital, and Acasia Ventures as well as other Angel investors.

This funding announcement follows Fez Delivery’s acceptance as one of the only two logistics companies in Nigeria to have received investment from Techstars Toronto, an elite global tech accelerator.

Speaking on how the recent capital raised will be deployed, Fez Delivery CEO Seun Alley disclosed that the company will continue to push towards leveraging technology to solve real problems.

In her words, “With this funding, we are repositioning as a full-fledged tech company focused on last-mile deliveries. We are currently focused on the $10 billion transport and logistics market in Nigeria, where we still have room to grow. We plan to keep growing in Nigeria and expand to other markets starting in the last quarter (Q4) of this year. Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa are on our list, but we haven’t decided on the order yet. While the platform is currently in development, interested parties can sign up to join the waitlist”.

Also commenting is the company’s co-founder and CTO Oluwafemi Jose who said, “Our goal has always been to create something truly transformative. We are excited to use this funding to accelerate our innovation, expand our team, deepen our development efforts and bring more value to our customers and partners”.

Founded in 2020, Fez delivery distinguishes itself from its competitors by offering tailored and hybrid solutions that combine physical touch-points with technology to serve its customers.

The startup offers APIs to its business clients and claims over 17,000 people currently use its platform, with 70% being individuals and 30% being a mix of SMEs and startups.

Fez Delivery makes money by charging individuals per delivery, and businesses a monthly subscription. It offers customers live tracking. Upon placing an order, customers will receive a tracking ID to track their order with an up-to-the-minute status report as well as the courier’s live location, Investors King understands.

In 2022, the logistics startup completed 200,000 trips and grew revenue by 20% month-on-month. Fez delivery boasts a team of well-trained professionals that provide best-in-class services and are committed to making the delivery as hassle-free as possible. Some of its partners include Opay, Kuda, Fairmoney, Techstars, Flutterwave, and paystack

Continue Reading

Fund Raising

African Identity Verification Platform Smile Identity Raises $20 Million to Expand Into New Markets

Published

on

Smile Identity Logo

Africa’s leading identity verification and digital platform Smile Identity has raised $20 million in Series B funding to expand its product and services into new markets.

The funding round was led by Costanoa and Norrsken 22, with participation from other Investors such as Two culture capital, Courtside Ventures, Value stream Ventures, Intercept Ventures, Latitude, Future Africa, and 500 fintech. Lexi Novitske from Norrsken 22 will also join Smile identity’s board as part of the series B funding. This brings the total funds raised to $31 million including $7 million in series A funding raised in 2021.

Investors King understands that the recent funds raised will help Smile identity to expand its product and engineering team, accelerating the development of specialization of its AI-powered biometrics, document verification, anti-fraud and compliance solutions tailored for new African markets.

The startup is optimistic that the money raised will enable it to partner with the governments of African countries as well as ID authorities to create consumer consent standards, enforce local African data protection laws, and share data on fraud and financial inclusion trends.

Speaking on its expansion plan, the company’s CEO Mark Straub said, “we believe the majority of people are honest. The challenge in the digital age is to prove this regardless of how a user is on boards, whether via agents, apps, tablets, the web, blockchains, or paper forms. We are thrilled to have the support of our partners and investors as we solve this problem across IDs, devices, and compliance regimes to ensure Africans are among the most trusted in the world”.

Since its operation in 2017, Smile Identity has been leading the way in digital transformation, providing secure and verifiable identities for millions. The startup has been driven by a desire to ensure that any African, anywhere in the world, can easily verify their identity.

Currently, Smile Identity is developing tools and software that will revolutionize the way millions of Africans prove and authenticate their identities online. Its artificial intelligence and identity verification tools have been specially designed for African faces and have a 99.8 percent accuracy rate.

Continue Reading

Fund Raising

Energy Fintech Startup SunFi Raises $2.325 Million Seed to Expand Operations

The seed round was led by Nairobi-based factor (e), SCM Capital asset management, and other participation from investors such as Sovereign capital, Voltron Capital, Ventures platform, and Norrsken impact accelerator.

Published

on

startup - Investors King

Nigerian energy financial technology startup that provides people access to solar energy and payment plans SunFi, has raised $2.324 million in seed funding.

The seed round was led by Nairobi-based factor (e), SCM Capital asset management, and other participation from investors such as Sovereign capital, Voltron Capital, Ventures platform, and Norrsken impact accelerator.

Speaking on the seed fund raised, SunFi CEO Rotimi Thomas revealed that the investment will help the startup expand its operations and enhance its capacity to adjust clients on the best systems to purchase at the most affordable prices.

With this funding, SunFi also hopes to improve its Fintech features over the following 12 to 18 months, convert more than 4,000 consumers, and expand its existing 29-person workforce.

“This investment seeks to aid SunFi to grow its operations and improve upon its capabilities to suggest the best systems with the lowest costs to customers, typical of every rational customer wanting to be offered the best quality in exchange for a small quantity fee or charge associated with acquiring the facility,” he added.

Founded in 2021, with its headquarters in Lagos, SunFi builds energy financial technology that optimizes and matches the right clean energy solution to meet customers’ needs. From payment plans to installation support and maintenance, the startup got its customers covered.

It also offers a buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) payment option for solar providers, which ultimately benefits end consumers. By filling the credit gap, the startup wants to eliminate the need for solar providers to seek credit from financial institutions.

Investors King understands that SunFi does not manufacture or install solar panels, rather it gives small solar businesses expert advice on choosing the best manufacturers in the market.

After it launched a demo version of its app in November 2021, the demand for solar systems surged to over 200%. SunFi has also partnered with Arnergy Solar, the largest solar installer in Nigeria, to expand access to more consumers.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement




Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending