The impact of Nigeria’s blossoming proptech industry is gradually being felt in the larger real estate sector
The impact of Nigeria’s blossoming proptech industry is gradually being felt in the larger real estate sector as technology increasingly informs end-to-end decisions on property development and management. In many respects, technology adoption in real estate has lagged behind its use in other business sectors, with an even greater lag in the Nigerian Market. This trend is, however, changing as young Nigerian entrepreneurs explore tech-based solutions to opportunities and gaps in the Nigerian property market. The growing application of proptech in the design, construction, purchase, leasing, and managing of properties in Nigeria has attracted international investors, with leading venture capitalists like Metaprop, Techstars Accelerator, and Aldar Programme taking bets on some Nigerian-owned companies. NIPROPTECH 2022, an annual convening of diverse groups of real estate practitioners across generations and subsectors, attracted the likes of Zach Aaron, Co-founder & General Partner at Metaprop, and John Kuruvilla, Chief Mentor at Brigade Reap. A high point of the 2-day August event was the launch of the Proptech54 Accelerator Program, which provided a platform for select proptech start-ups to pitch to domestic and international investors. A few Nigeria proptech companies have also made it to the top-6 finalists of the Africa Proptech Forum Start-up Competition to hold in September 2022.