Keble, a Lagos-based real estate investment platform, said it has bounced back from the verge of collapse in 2023 to projecting N10 billion in sales this year after restructuring its business model, restructuring its business, introducing new products, and attracting more investors.
“We didn’t want to close down; we just didn’t make enough money and didn’t raise enough money to keep the business running,” Josemaria Agulanna, the company’s co-founder and CEO, told BusinessDay in an exclusive interview. “Margins were not large enough, plus there was a funding drought then.”
The CEO said its 2023 difficulties stemmed from weak revenue and limited capital access during a broader venture funding slowdown that affected startups across sectors.
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According to the Proptech Funding in Africa report, total money raised by proptechs in Africa in 2024 declined by 36.8 percent to $17.1 million from $12.5 million reported in 2023.
The pivot that saved Keble
Originally, Keble’s core product was simple: fractional real estate ownership with fixed returns. Users could buy a portion of a property and earn when it appreciates.
The model worked—but not enough.
By 2023, the team realised the single-product approach limited growth and constrained margins. So they rebuilt the business around a broader idea: multiple ways to own property.
The company launched co-ownership deals, flexible home ownership structures, installment land purchases, and mortgage-enabled acquisitions
“When we layered in more opportunities to own real estate, things became more interesting,” the CEO said.
This translated into traction; the company reported more than N1 billion in sales last year and said it is on course to reach N10 billion this year, driven partly by higher-margin deals.
Since its launch in 2018, the CEO said the platform has attracted over 30,000 users, including more than 2,000 active investors last year.
“Margins now range between 30 percent and 40 percent, depending on project structure, implying roughly N300 million in net income on last year’s sales,” he said.
Early funding totaled about $270,000 raised incrementally between 2019 and 2023 from angel investors and accelerators, including backing from Techstars and Asset & Resource Management Holding Company (ARM).
Mass-market strategy for premium real estate
Agulanna said Keble is not positioning itself as a luxury brand despite sourcing properties in high-end locations such as Lekki, Ikoyi, Oniru, and Eko Atlantic.
“I believe Keble serves a mass-market opportunity. What we do best is make luxury assets available to everyone,” he added: “The Dangotes of the world already know where to find the best deals, but most people don’t. So Keble is here.”
Central to that approach is the company’s co-ownership structure, which allows multiple investors to jointly own a property by dividing it into smaller investment slots. Agulanna explained that an apartment valued at N200 million to N300 million can be split into units worth about N5 million each, allowing buyers to earn rental income and capital appreciation while retaining the ability to sell their stake.
“So co-ownership allows a group of family, friends, and strangers to come together, own an apartment, and earn from that apartment for life,” he said. “They can use the apartment for an allocated time, and as the apartment grows in value, their slot grows as well.”
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The CEO argued that access rather than price cuts is the key lever for improving housing affordability. “If more people can buy land, but instead of paying N3 million, they pay N30,000 monthly, that’s access. The more access we create, the more affordability happens by default,” he said.
Keble plans to expand beyond Nigeria, saying it has already signed agreements tied to deals in Ghana and Kenya.
According to Agulanna, the growth strategy will rely on launching new offerings, enabling mortgage-backed purchases, and structuring more high-margin property transactions with partners.
