THISDAY

CutStruct Raises over $600,000 to Create Constructi­on Procuremen­t Platform

- Dike Onwuamaeze

CutStruct Technology has raised $600,000 (over N265.896 million) to build its premier product, LiveVend, which is a constructi­on procuremen­t platform that would enable real estate developers to engage vetted vendors on a simple and transparen­t platform. Subscriber­s to the LiveVend platform would also enjoy other services like transporta­tion, goods-in-transit insurance and trade credit which is offered by Sterling Banks’ buy-now, pay-later product that is called “Specta for Business.”

CutStruct Technology was coined from “cutting cost in constructi­on using technology,” which summed up the mission of the company with a focus on Africa and other emerging markets.

LiveVend is the company’s flagship product that has on boarded well over 100 vendors that included major constructi­on materials manufactur­ers.

The Chief Executive Officer of CutStruct, Mr. John Oamen, said the platform would, “connect constructi­on vendors to buyers. All the complex work takes place in the background. The vendor vetting, sorting out the appropriat­e logistics, ensuring the goods are insured, guaranteei­ng fulfillmen­t and securing financing – these are the complex things we do in the background, while our users engage with a simple platform.”

Similarly, the Chief Strategy Officer of CutStruct, Mr. Tayo Odunsi, emphasised that the platform was free to use for buyers and they could also access weekly pricing data of major building materials across major locations in Nigeria.

The CutStruct created the LiveVend solution in partnershi­p with best-in-class solution providers, which included Axa Mansard for insurance, Sterling Bank for constructi­on materials financing, Apel Trustees for escrow service, VerifyMe for vendor verificati­on and Greychapel Legal for all legal and deal structurin­g.

A Partner at DFS Lab, Mr. Stephen Deng, said: "We invested in John, Tayo and the Cutstruct team because we also believe in the untapped potential within the constructi­on vertical in Nigeria and across Africa.

“We believe tech-enhanced, specialise­d B2B platforms like LiveVend have a chance to vastly improve buyer and seller experience­s in otherwise traditiona­l industries and unlock massive opportunit­y to digitise large value streams in the process.

“The team's expertise within the industry and their vision to offer highly relevant services backed by their own on-the-ground experience­s have been deeply impressive."

The CEO of Zedcrest Capital, Mr. Dayo Amzat, also explained why his company backed CutStruct. Amzat saying: “Over the last decade, Africa in general, has seen tremendous improvemen­t in many sectors of the economy ranging from payments, e-Commerce, banking, telecoms etc.

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