HouseME, a South African property-tech startup that connects prospective tenants to landlords has completed its third round of multimillion rand financing, bringing the startup’s total secured investment to US$3 million.

“The funding received so far helps position us for Series A investment, with a focus on data architecture, analytics and scalable growth strategies. Our collaboration with Gumtree at the end of last year raised our profile considerably, and the platform and team have grown substantially since that was announced,” HouseME’s chief executive officer (CEO) Ben Shaw said. 

Here Is All You Need To Know

The startup last secured funding last year, and the latest round of investment comes via a large private fund which undertook an extensive external consultancy project on the company, market and product before investing, in the process estimating HouseME ’s market size to be valued at ZAR120 billion (US$8.1 billion) per year in South Africa alone.

Ben Shaw said the past few years had seen funding becoming more targeted to data insights, financial products and growth.

“Earlier this year, we launched our hugely popular DepositFREE product, and we have another groundbreaking financial services product in the pipeline for launch in early 2020,” he said.

What HouseMe Does

Formed in 2015 and available to the public by the end of 2016, HouseME is a digital platform that connects prospective tenants to landlords with full automation of the letting agency process, and fair and transparent rental pricing — all for a fraction of traditional fees.

HouseME currently has a user base of 95,000 and a collection rate of 98.7 per cent, 20 per cent higher than the national average.

Read Also: Why More South African Startups Have Raised Funds This Year

Statistics reveal that the value of venture capital investments in South Africa grew by 33% to R1.160 billion in 2017. The popularity of these investments is clear, and understandable given the high tax burden on individuals without it. In fact, in 2018, about 41% of all deals by value were in startup capital.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world