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The document, titled ‘The Real Future’, covers activity within real estate across ten countries, including Nigeria. It touches on varied themes, ranging from the sector’s emergence from a COVID-era recession to sustainable and green housing. It also addresses the growing role that technology is playing in enabling access to housing for Africans. PropTech, which leverages technology to facilitate the sale, purchase, marketing, and management of real estate, has begun to receive attention from would-be entrepreneurs and investors. In the past couple of years, stakeholders in both categories have accorded greater attention to the gains that the intersection of tech and property markets could yield for them, and for the broader industry. This increased interest is reflecting itself in the number of PropTech startups springing up in countries like Nigeria, South Africa, and Ghana. It’s also evidenced by the Year-on-Year growth in investments coming into such businesses. The Real Future report says that African startups in the space raised a total of $12.37 million in 2022—more than triple what they got in 2019.
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However, the sums raised by PropTech last year constitute less than 1% of the $3.86 billion scooped up by tech startups in the region in the same period. While it’s a reality check for any talk of a PropTech revolution, analysts at firms like Mixta Africa suggest that we are in the early days of what will soon become a major trend. As Africans become more accustomed to using contemporary technologies, we can expect PropTech to really take off on the continent. Nigerian startups accounted for a significant portion of the funding that PropTech amassed in 2022. Major deals done include $3 million raised by SmallSmall, $2.6 million secured by Spleet, and $2.1 million announced by Whose Your Landlord (WYL). VENCO, another company in the space, lapped up $670,000, while Cutstruct secured funding worth $600,000. Again, these deals, impressive as they are, pale in comparison to the $1 billion raised by tech startups in Nigeria last year. Yet, industry watchers say they indicate a space that’s emerging from obscurity, and starting to assert itself as a promising part of the tech ecosystem.
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A quick glance at the situation of Nigeria’s property market clues observers as to why PropTech is taking a more prominent place within local tech. As of 2023, the country has a housing deficit of 28 million units—a huge gap by most measures. And with an estimated 44 million persons set to join its current urban population by 2030, solutions built by startups in the PropTech business will become vital to sustaining a semblance of symmetry in the way the market functions. Featured Image Source: Lee Baron
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