Online platform for off-campus residence raises capital for business expansion

myPadi.ng, an online platform providing off-campus accommodation for university/college students has said announced that it has raised seed funding from EchoVC. This round of funding from EchoVC, according to it in  statement  will be used to accelerate the company’s expansion into more cities, serving more schools, growing the team, and improving its product.

It explained that myPadi’s hostel booking platform allows students to discover off-campus accommodation through its listings from verified landlords. The platform provides photographs, virtual tours, pricing, amenities, and reviews.

“Prior to myPadi, the hostel discovery process was extremely rigorous given the shortage in supply of on-campus accommodation. Students spent several weeks calling friends and acquaintances, walking long distances or having to rely on unverified roadside agents who often demand large deposits and are sometimes fraudulent. Today with myPadi, this process is streamlined, easy and takes less than one week from start to finish”.

“We are very excited about our investment in myPadi and in a market that has been estimated to be worth $20bn per year. The inadequate supply of student hostels in universities across Africa has created a great need for off-campus student accommodation and myPadi provides an elegantly organized solution to this problem; we see myPadi as the future go-to platform for all student needs. We believe that the myPadi team, led by the founder Joel Amawhe, is the right team to execute this vision. We wish them all the best and look forward to working together” said Uche Ogboi of EchoVC

Founded in 2016, myPadi (formerly Studacom.ng & HostelsVilla.com) was the Pitch winner at the #StartupSouth 2016 edition. They were also a part of Ventures Platform’s second acceleration programme where they received $20,000 initial funding.

MyPadi was awarded best e-housing startup of the year (2017) by NITDA, represented Nigeria at GITEX 2017 in Dubai and received $5,000 in grant funding plus 3 months business advisory service from Accenture Nigeria, courtesy of the National Economic Summit 2017. The company has listed 5,000 vetted rooms for students in 60+ tertiary institutions in Nigeria, it said.