By Adedapo Adesanya and Sodeinde Temidayo David
Nigerian startup that caters to home service needs, Eden Life, has completed a $1.4 million seed round to expand its business offerings.
This brings Eden Life’s total investment to date to $2 million following pre-seed backing from all of Andela’s original co-founders, and additional accelerator support over the last 18 months.
The new capital obtained by the company will be deployed to build Eden Life’s in-house technology and develop its own world-class kitchens and operations hubs, as it builds a new tech-based platform to improve and grow Africa’s service industry.
Launched in 2019, Eden Life was developed for busy Lagos professionals who are often time-poor due to long working hours and struggle to source and coordinate dependable, efficient, and trustworthy home services providers.
Currently, the average Eden Life user uses two services five times per week with first-time users typically starting off with food delivery, before picking up additional services.
Targeted at executives, remote workers, creatives, and tech engineers and developers, Eden Life is removing the barriers to finding reliable household services in the city and in doing so has quickly picked up 600+ customers and is growing a loyal following with a 92 per cent monthly retention rate and over 70 per cent of new users coming via referrals.
With this new fund injected into the business, it will ensure Eden can own and manage its entire supply chain and deliver its services without the need for third-party providers by having a physical footprint where chefs prepare meals, laundry can be processed quickly and cleaners receive training to provide a high-quality service.
Raising up to $600,000 in a family and friend pre-seed round, the company had previously employed a basic distribution model where it delivered food picked by customers from a wide range of third-party service providers.
Following this, the company implored a vertical integration in the food department as it launched its kitchen and now produces its meals, in a bid to improve the food experience for customers.
Speaking on the round, Mr Nadayar Enegesi, co-founder at Eden Life and Co-founder at Andela said, “For many of our users, if they’re cooking or running errands, they’re not being productive; they don’t want distractions from their work, which is where Eden Life comes in.
“While we can’t create more time physically, we are offering access to a platform that delivers a seamless mix of household services so that busy professionals can focus on their work and leisure.
“We’re excited to scale our platform to offer so much more, and continue to offer some of the highest quality services underpinned by world-class technology and a highly trained team of professionals,” Mr Enegesi stated.
Mr Remus Brett, General Partner at LocalGlobe said, “We fell in love with Eden Life’s vision for the future of home services in Africa. A true customer obsession sits at the heart of everything they are building – this is already visible in customer retention and other key metrics.
“As investors, we are always attracted to first-mover companies that launch products in untapped markets. The combination of this advantage with a core team who has proven experience building African tech to unrivalled levels sets Eden Life on an exciting path of growth.”
Having launched with three core services – those most fundamental to making the home a sanctuary – Eden Life will be rolling out many more over the coming months to make the app a one-stop tool to manage household chores and personal life.
Modupe Gbadeyanka