Nigerian startup E-Estates has developed a mobile app aimed at enhancing the living experiences of residents of gated communities, “putting convenience at their fingertips”.
E-Estates was launched last year by Collins-Ogbuo Ejinne and Olusegun Salako in response to issues they were facing within their own estates, and tackles problems ranging from visitor control, to access to handyman services, to bill payment.
It helps estate owners better coordinate their affairs and better communicate with residents, with features including emergency services, guest management and real-time vending for utility bills.
“What we do at E-Estates is provide a solution for both estate residents and estate managers. We help estate managers save time and money, and help them flawlessly organise day-to-day routines in a sophisticated manner with data optimisation and management through an easy-to-use dashboard,” Ejinne told Disrupt Africa.
The startup, which was recently selected to take part in the incubation programme run by the Lagos-based Co-Creation Hub (CcHub), was launched after the co-founders decided it was time estates entered the digital world.
Ejinne said uptake had been encouraging so far.
“Renowned names in the real estate community in Nigeria are excited by the introduction of E-Estates into the market and the possibilities. It’s been well received by our customers,” he said.
So far, a 38-unit housing estate is using the product, while E-Estates has also entered into an agreement with a real estate company that owns a number of estates – Locke Homes.
“They have estates with over 700 units in their portfolio. They are starting our product in one of their smaller estates and we will service the rest later on,” Ejinne said, adding that the startup plans to expand across Nigeria and into the rest of Africa in future.
E-Estates makes money by charging residents a small fee when they use the app to pay their bills, as well as a service charge for estate owners. Ejinne said mobile advertisements will also serve as a revenue stream in future.
“We are already delivering a certain demographic of target audience, like individuals living above a certain pay grade in certain locations,” he said.
“We are still at the early stage and have not yet started to generate a lot of profit, but our projections are looking very good and we are on the right path.”
