Online real estate marketplace, ToLet just raised $1.2 million in a Series A funding round led by Frontier Digital Ventures. The plan is to use this investment to expand to other parts of Nigeria, and also improve the company’s marketing strategy.
In the words of ToLet cofounder and CEO, Fikayo Ogundipe, “The new funds raised will be used to improve the platform’s technology offering to both property seekers as well as that used by listing agents. The rest of the funds will be channelled into improved marketing efforts and aggressive expansion across Nigeria over the next 12-18 months.”
Founded in 2012 (it was known as “Estatenode” at the time) by Fikayo Ogundipe, Sulaiman Balogun, Dapo Eludire and Seyi Ayeni, ToLet is a website that helps users find property for sale 0r rent in different parts of Lagos. Listings that can be found on the site include cheap apartments, serviced apartment, luxury apartments, and office spaces, and users can find property
Talking about this investment, Frontier Digital Ventures founder and CEO, Shaun Di Gregorio said, “We are super excited to be making this investment into ToLet.com.ng, and look forward to being part of helping fuel their next stage of accelerated growth. We have full confidence in the ability of the founding team to continue with the awesome job they have already started and we look forward to the consolidation of their position as the Number One property classifieds portal in Nigeria.”
ToLet was one of the first thirteen companies to receive seed funding from Spark.ng in 2013, and have since then become one of the leading online property platforms in Nigeria.
Spark co-founder Bastian Gotter, commenting on the fresh investment, said, “We are very excited to welcome Frontier Digital Ventures (FDV) to the ToLet.com.ng family, as a long term thinking and very knowledgeable partner. We believe this new fundraise gives the ToLet management team the capital to scale, and as well serves as validation for what they have achieved already. We are looking forward to seeing ToLet.com.ng win big and change the real estate industry in Nigeria. ”
Real Estate Services in Nigeria grew by 2.12% in the Second Quarter of 2016 (despite the fact that Nigeria’s officially in a recession) and its contribution to nominal GDP was 8.64%. This only further validates ToLet.com.ng’s belief in brighter days ahead – their mission is to be the largest property vertical in Africa by 2020. As of now, there are about 20,000 properties from 143 parts of Lagos listed on the site.
