Seso Global, a Nigerian based prop-tech startup has raised a $600,000 pre-seed funding round to expand its property management portal into emerging markets.
The round was led by Kepple Africa Ventures, Rising Tide Africa, and Moabi Group, as well as angel investors, Albert Essien, Ibrahim Sanga, and Jamie Broderick.
According to the company, the new influx of funds will be used to scale operations in its existing markets and heavily promote the adoption of its new props CRM platform for property developers working across Africa.
Speaking on the Investment, Albert Essien, former group CEO of Ecobank Group believes that Seso Global’s platform is addressing the key challenges in the African real estate markets.
“The Seso Global platform is addressing the key challenges in the African real estate markets. I am confident they will make a major impact in housing access, a key issue across the continent,”
Albert Essien, former group CEO of Ecobank Group.
Over 7,000 listed properties
Founded by Phillip Jarman in June 2019, Seso offers a one-stop-shop digital marketplace that sells properties and property-related services.
The company has developed a customer relationship management (CRM) portal that enables property developers, agents and governments to manage their properties, documentation and transactions on a secure blockchain database.
Once verified, the platform allows prospective buyers of properties to view and tour selected properties as advertised on the Seso Marketplace. It also instructs relevant professional services to undertake the necessary KYC / DD against the property and request mortgages with mortgage partners.
Since its launch, the company has expanded quickly, currently boasting over 80 property developers and 7,000 property units on the platform.
Beyond Nigeria, the startup has started its pilot in South Africa in November 2019 and entered the Ghanaian market in May 2020.
In Summary
Having a land ownership deed is no guarantee that the land is really yours in Africa. In Nigeria, for example, there are land disputes all the time. This is because the government’s land ownership records aren’t trustworthy enough.
Seso wants to change this with its blockchain-based property marketplace. The company has revealed that it will start preparing for its seed round to help the company finance expansion into further markets.