Nigerian real estate investment startup Cribstock is helping users become landlords in minutes by purchasing shares of properties that can then earn rent every month from Lagos tenants.
Launched in 2021, Cribstock helps allows users to own fractions of properties, and earn a share of rent from tenants.
“Think of this as a platform micro-investors use to crowdfund real estate to earn from it,” CEO Harold Nno told Disrupt Africa.
“We spotted the opportunity to create a simple platform that enables people to earn from real estate, as this class of asset returns above the average money market.”
Cribstock has taken off. It already has 17,000 potential retail investors listed on its platform, and has four properties listed. It aims to grow this number to 12 by February of next year, to provide more investment opportunities to a clearly-interested user base.
The startup raised a “friends and family” earlier this year, having been self-funded from the beginning. It is now in the process of raising a US$400,000 pre-seed round, which Nno said would provide it with 12 months of runway. Currently only operating in Nigeria, Cribstock aims to expand to the US market in time.
“We earn a commission of up to five per cent from the property deals successfully bought in fractions to investors on our platform. We also earn up to 15 per cent from the rental income that it yields,” Nno said.
Cribstock is not yet profitable, but has earned revenues of US$20,000 in the last quarter.
“This asset type is novel to most investors and has low liquidity as well, so it’s been a journey helping people to understand real estate investing,” said Nno.
