Alexandria Proctor, co-founder and CEO of DigConnect.com.
DigsConnect.com, a South African digital scholar accommodation system, has secured a multimillion-rand financial investment from Launch Africa, Goodwater Funds, Five35 Ventures and Delta Ventures.
The money will be made use of to spearhead global expansion, with a aim on supporting African students in the British isles and US secure extra economical, effortless and secure housing.
Introduced in 2018, DigsConnect.com claims it has realized 300% calendar year-on-year growth following college college students returned to campus submit the COVID-19 pandemic. The start off-up now lists 1.3 million beds around the world.
DigsConnect.com was designed from the floor up by Alexandria Procter and Greg Ramsay-Keal to match landlords with college students hunting for lodging.
According to DigsConnect, the college student housing sector is booming, with world expenditure into objective-designed student lodging exceeding $16 billion in 2018. Regardless of the pandemic, this asset class is resilient and even now developing swiftly as university student enrolment continues to improve.
Alexandria Procter, co-founder and CEO of DigsConnect.com, suggests: “The tech get started-up market is dealing with a funding wintertime at the instant, so the truth that we obtained so a lot early assistance from fantastic Pan-African and US investors speaks volumes about the power of the workforce, the benefit of our strategic partnership with University student.com, our tactic of early profitability and audio unit economics.”
“This investment provides attention-grabbing portfolio connectivity to quite a few of our 115 portfolio corporations that are fascinated in bettering college pupils globally,” suggests Zach George, Launch Africa Ventures standard partner.
535 says it has a ten years-extended monitor report of venture building together with some of the smartest woman-led founding teams in Africa, backing female-centered begin-ups throughout various sectors in Africa.
“As a main gender-lens fund in Africa, we see our partnership with DigsConnect.com as an outstanding prospect to include price to a mission-aligned, woman-led commence-up,” claims Hema Vallabh, husband or wife, Five35 Ventures.
“Five35 is energized to be supporting Alexandria and her workforce as they attempt to democratise the substantial scholar housing current market throughout the African continent, currently viewing good traction and scaling complete steam in advance.”
Ramsay-Keal, co-founder and COO of DigsConnect.com, suggests: “Many of the upcoming-generation of African leaders are pursuing their scientific tests in the United kingdom, Eire, Canada, US and Australia, just before returning dwelling to Africa to improve the regional African economies and partake in country setting up. It is amazing to be a part of these kinds of a pivotal aspect of Africa’s improvement.”
Procter and Ramsay-Keal commenced DigsConnect.com although they ended up both Scholar Consultant Council customers at the College of Cape Town, following Procter was being inundated with requests from pupils to support them uncover accommodation.
Recognizing this hole in the industry, they developed the DigsConnect.com option to exchange the antiquated process currently in area throughout the place right after originally increasing R14 million.
They say DigsConnect.com has now grown to turn out to be a person of the biggest companies of lodging for learners in Africa, supporting students link with opportunity housemates and rooms, centralising all kinds of “digs” in a single spot and aiding to make certain no college student is homeless.
Procter says changing the company’s whole business model to grow to be self-enough was dangerous but has paid out off in the prolonged run.
“It produced DigsConnect.com a quite interesting, investable and successful business and we believe that investment decision really should be seen as a instrument for amplifying business expansion alternatively than a instrument for survival.”