In a move that will see it consolidate its grip on Kenya’s real estate market, BuyRentKenya.com, the country’s largest online property site by listings has raised an undisclosed investment from One Africa Media (OAM) for a minority stake.
Speaking to TechMoran this morning, Jamie Pujara, the CEO and Co-Founder of BuyRentKenya.com,said, ” The funding will help us consolidate our operations, leverage from One Africa Media’s experience in South Africa and Nigeria in property to grow our Kenyan operations and also help deliver value to our clients.”
Pujara added that he was excited to work with One Africa Media and was looking forward to use their professional expertise, strategy and resources they have on classifieds in Africa.
“Justin Clarke is experienced in online property classifieds in both South Africa and Nigeria. He is an invaluable mentor who will help us grow and consolidate our position,” said Pujara.
Set to use the undiclosed funds to up their game, BuyRentKenya was founded in 2012 with a focus on connecting the largest real estate community of buyers, sellers, brokers’, developers, landlords and tenants for both residential and commercial properties in a simple and effective way, today the firm serves nearly 200,000 visitors monthly to its nearly 20,000+ up-to-date listings for residential and commercial properties, as well as local real estate news, market trends, home styling, expert advice and useful guides on buying and selling.
In a statement Justin Clarke, Co-Founder of OAM and Founder of South Africa and Nigeria’s leading property websites PrivateProperty, commented ‘BuyRentKenya.com is by far the strongest real estate marketplace in Kenya and we’re excited about the prospects of working with a great team, and extending the reach of all our brands to Kenyan consumers. It is seldom that you come across portal founders that are really passionate about property, and completely committed to adding value to the real estate sector in Kenya and who have a long term vision.”
Kenya is where many of our biggest businesses were founded, and we’re committed to growing the Africa reach of Kenya’s growing strength as a base in the continent.”
Though the amount of funding was not disclosed, TechMoran pegs BuyRentKenya to be worth $4million. One Africa Media (OAM), is not new to African online classifieds, it runs Africa’s largest portfolio of online marketplaces focused on Jobs, Cars, Property and Travel and serves over over 400 million Africans.
They invest in strong local capability and capacity building, building three hubs in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria with over 500 employees in eight countries in their Privateproperty.co.za in ZA, and Privateproperty Nigeria, ,Safarinow , Jobberman and Brightermonday and Cheki Africa.
One Africa Media’s strengths come from taking the best of capabilities and capital from developed internet markets, and applying them with very strong local knowledge and experience to create meaningful and useful products and services.