Afripreneur
The Clooper Story
Adetokunboh (Toks) Adebiyi, Founder at Clooper (Source: Clooper)
Having experienced life as a tenant, homeowner, landlord and property manager, Adetokunboh had gone through many years of managing his home and properties the traditional way with piles of paperwork ranging from tenancy to maintenance to finance documents and so on. Although he was an experienced landlord with established systems, he found the process to be time consuming and frustrating. Having to go from system to system to system for each part of the process was the most frustrating thing and don’t want to even mention the paperwork.
It reached the boiling point when he had to sort urgent property maintenance issues whilst on much needed family holidays. Adetokunboh was upset that the tenants were disturbing his holiday, the tenants were also upset that he sounded upset when they needed something fixed.
That was the tipping point for him. As much as he wanted to be a good landlord or property manager, he also did not want to spend many hours going through websites and calling contacts to find reputable local tradespeople to get quotes, whilst on a short break that was meant to be an escape from it all. Toks thought about all the people that might be going through similar frustrations when really everyone had a similar goal to keep the property in good condition. He thought surely there must be a way to make everyone’s life easier.
My life’s purpose had been (and still is) to help people live joyful lives and I wrote a book about it called “Joyful”. said Adetokunboh.
Then he had a dream about Clooper. An idea that would connect people to resolve the pain of going helter-skelter to fulfil the end to end journey of renting or managing a property.
Finally landlords would be able to claw back their precious time whilst providing a great service to tenants and tradespeople would be able to find more work and earn a living; Homeowners too will be able to save time and hassle by finding good local tradespeople and manage repairs and improvement works all from their phone, the idea was a win for everybody and would result in better housing provision for the society and a more joyful life for everyone.
Clooper Crowdfunding Campaign
86% of landlords in the UK manage their tenancies themselves and many find property management to be very frustrating and time-consuming. In an industry worth over £11B, Clooper aims to solve this problem with a platform that connects landlords, tenants, trade services and homeowners together.
- We calculate the industry value at £11 billion
- Facebook Marketplace Inventory Partner, Founders Factory & Tech Nation
- The founder has previously worked with Prudential, Visa and Lloyds
- £200k lead investment pledged from a leading Landlord & Developer
86% of private landlords in the UK manage their properties themselves and many find it time-consuming, stressful and frustrating. The solutions out there have not been innovative enough to help people in a sector we calculate to be worth over £11B.
Clooper aims to solve this problem with a property management platform that connects landlords, tenants, trade services and homeowners together to facilitate easy transactions and a healthy relationship between them. It’s like airbnb for long lets.
The UK is currently undergoing a digital transformation in the real estate sector. With Covid-19 further fuelling the adoption of online services, Clooper aims to help with making move-ins quicker, repairs faster, communication and payments easier. Done with a sustainable all-in-one solution for property management that reduces worry and increases control.
Clooper is part of the Tech Nation Family and was shortlisted into Founders Factory and Activate Accelerator programmes. The platform launched in private beta on 28/09/2020. We obtained EIS Advanced Assurance in August. Paul Rothwell of Empire, a large residential landlord in England, has pledged £200k of investment.
The money raised will go towards key recruits, our mobile apps, marketing, sales and operations.
Join us on our mission to create a world where everyone has a place they can be proud to call home and live joyfully!
Harris M was created by Congolese entrepreneur Harris Mayoukou, Harris M. is a young fashion and accessories brand inspired by the bustling streets of Château Rouge, a colourful district of Paris. This project is above all a family story that begins with a sewing machine belonging to the great uncles of the designer in Congo. A machine that was offered to his father in the 70s and that the latter offered him in turn at the launch of the brand. Moreover, she still uses it today in the production of pieces in her Parisian workshop.
Coming from a family of artists and talented couturiers, Harris was keen to carry on this family legacy through his brand Harris M. She makes it a point of honor to take only fabrics produced in Africa in order to support the crafts and printing works still present. The brand offers accessories and casual wear mixed clothing, comfortable and quality. The founder defines the brand in 3 words: KANDA which means family in lari. Because she wanted to perpetuate one of her father’s first jobs.
Harris took her first classes in a very small workshop in Montreuil in order to keep this practice in the family and keep this precious link. Then PASSION because all the pieces are made according to the desires and the favorites. Finally ETHICAL, because it tries to ensure that small craftsmen, whether they are in France or in Africa, continue to be paid at the right price
APINAPI is a social business focused on zero waste and symbolizes the meeting between France and Senegal. It all began in 2010, when Marina Gning and Jeanne-Aurélie Delaunay founded the company APINAPI in Paris, with the aim of democratizing washable diapers and natural baby products. After 10 years working in the cinema industry, they wanted to raise awareness about washable nappies and natural care products for babies.
During her travels in Senegal with her husband, Marina finds that the products she offers in France are perfectly suited for Senegal. Indeed, she sees how plastic waste litters the streets of the country, especially disposable diapers. These, which were a few years ago a “luxury product”, have become very accessible with the arrival of low-end brands.
These layers, of poor quality, give irritation and are not reliable. The family budget is reduced and women with low incomes use a single diaper for their baby all day! By offering washable diapers to her sister-in-law in Dakar, Marina sees how much easier her life is: less redness, less expense, less waste. In addition, the diapers were a great success with the friends of the young mother.
The trigger is born from there. What if these washable diapers were the solution? In 2015, she got fully into the project with her partner, her husband and Marianne Varale. The team was born, and in 2016 Marina and her husband decided to sell their apartment in France to settle in Senegal and launch ApiAfrique.
Today, ApiAfrique is a Senegalese social enterprise, which offers innovative, local and environmentally friendly solutions for the hygiene of women and babies. Its vision is to promote sustainable solutions that contribute to women’s empowerment, waste reduction, the fight against exclusion and job creation.
Douce mélanine Founders
N’dioba DIONGUE and Astou diongue, two French-Senegalese mothers have both had bad experiences with baby cosmetics products that contain potentially dangerous or allergenic substances. Looking for a solution, they found out that products adapted to black and mixed-race children can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Following these bad personal experiences, they decide to react and remedy them by offering healthy products, especially for babies. This is because they are fragile. The beginnings were not simple: market research, business plan, search for formulators, etc. It took several months before they could find a lab to work with. Not being in the trade, they also had to train in formulation.
Douce mélanine was born in 2018, with the aim of offering a range of care products with 98% natural ingredients, traditionally used in Africa for baby care. The goal is to transmit care rituals with products from the African pharmacopoeia. For example, we can find touloucouna oil, with unsuspected virtues which is relaxing and is used in Africa for infant massage. A necessary return to the roots, to allow babies to enjoy all the benefits of this treatment with ancestral oils.
Then in 2020, as for many entrepreneurs, the coronavirus came knocking on the doorbell. After several questioning and restructuring, they decided to stay the course. New tests are carried out, formulas are retouched, and the adventure resumes in 2021 to never stop. Today, Douce Mélanine has made her way and has found her place in many bathrooms all over the world.
DOUCE MÉLANINE fights every day to offer mothers products with healthy compositions. Its products are formulated and manufactured by a French laboratory certified Ecocert and COSMOS. Without perfumes, tested under dermatological control and composed of ingredients from the African pharmacopoeia, babies will appreciate its care which will bring softness, hydration and relaxation.
