Nigerian company VENCO, which delivers solutions to better living experiences in residential and commercial communities in Africa, has acquired US $670,000 in an oversubscribed pre-seed fundraising round to develop its platform.
VENCO is an all-in-one technology platform that manages collections, service charge administration, utilities vending, visitor access, and other services associated with multi-unit property developments across Africa. It was co-founded by Chude Osiegbu (CEO), Reagan Mbitiru (CTO), and Uzochukwu Alor (COO).
The firm has grown by more than 200% in the past nine months and now operates in six locations with more than 12,000 residential units throughout Nigeria and Kenya. Through its platform, it has completed transactions worth more than US $10 million since January 2022.
Other strategic investors taking part in the pre-seed funding round included Voltron Capital, Decimal Point Ventures, Fast Forward Fund, Tayo Oviosu (CEO of Paga), Odun Eweniyi (COO of Piggyvest), Oo Nwoye, Desigan Chinniah, Dakar Network Angels, and Viktoria Business Angel Network. Zrosk Investment Management served as the round’s lead investor.
The additional money will help VENCO expand into other cities and nations on the continent, starting with Nigeria and Kenya, as well as build out its credit delivery infrastructure for rent and household expenditures.
“The manual nature of many processes associated with life in residential and commercial communities in Africa presents many issues that we believe technology can fix. Beyond this, we also want to leverage technology to deliver new services and experiences that will transform how people live in Africa’s growing cities and create better value for everyone across the board. Our goal is to deliver technology solutions that will enhance living experiences across the continent, and we are excited to have raised these funds to support that mission,” said Osiegbu.
VENCO is developing a platform that enables the validation of the GDP of the African household, according to Samson Esemuede, managing director and chief investment officer at Zrosk Investment Management.
“Not only does a platform like VENCO allow for significant improvement in the experience of African residents, facility managers, and property owners, but it could also potentially unlock at scale the sort of financial services the African consumer really needs. We view VENCO as both a SAAS and a financial inclusion play with a potential for strong multiplicative impact across the continent. We are excited to support the VENCO team in achieving their vision,” he said.
