Ghanaian property development and maintenance company Peponi Gruppe has successfully morphed into a tech company by developing an on-demand mobile application for maintenance services that is seeing strong monthly growth.
Founded in 2017, Peponi Gruppe began life providing infrastructure and property management services, but has diversified with the launch of PEPs. An Android and iOS mobile app, PEPs allows people to connect with plumbing, electrical, and cleaning services and have providers at their doorsteps in less than 45 minutes.
“The app is a practical solution to an age-old and everyday problem – finding highly skilled, reliable and effective professionals for common household and office maintenance services,” Peponi Gruppe co-founder and chief operations officer (COO) Frank Agyemang told Disrupt Africa.
“Even though there are road-side technicians or individual providers, most people are not able or reluctant to hire them due to their unpredictable pricing, delays in getting requested services, and the unreliability of these providers. They also do not provide a one-stop-shop of services.”
PEPs does, and uptake has been strong from the off. It already has around 100 monthly active users, with numbers increasing by 20 per cent month-on-month. While users have greater convenience, service professionals are also provided with a whole new way of reaching customers.
With the initial market response so positive, Peponi Gruppe now wants to take advantage. Agyemang said the company is in talks with a number of venture capital firms as it looks to raise US$500,000 by the close of this year to expand its operations to three more cities and a whole new market.
“PEPs has managed to gain grounds in Accra and Tema, and plans are far advanced to expand our services to Takoradi and Kumasi this year and Nairobi, Kenya, in the second quarter of next year,” Agyemang said.
Revenue is generated from the mobile app by service providers paying Peponi Gruppe 25 per cent of the amount charged for the job they receive from the mobile platform.
“Revenue has been encouraging and we are about breaking even,” said Agyemang.
