Nigerian founder Emeka Ogbuabo has raised £320,000 in pre-seed funding for Nuba, a UK startup building a rewards network around one of households’ biggest regular expenses – rent.
The round was led by SFC Capital, one of the UK’s most active early-stage investors. Nuba says the funding will be used to develop its wider platform, launch its first operator pilots and build rewards partnerships with local businesses.
Nuba is trying to make rent payments work harder for tenants while giving property operators new ways to encourage renewals and referrals. Its network is designed to connect renters, property operators and neighbourhood businesses, creating rewards around spending that would normally generate little or no additional value for tenants.
Turning rent into rewards
Nuba’s first product allows users to pay rent by card while landlords continue to receive payment through normal bank transfers.
This means eligible renters and property operators can use rewards cards to collect points or other benefits on rent payments.
The startup says it has already processed nearly £200,000 in rent payments, giving it early transaction volume as it moves towards building a broader rewards platform.
The idea addresses a simple gap in consumer rewards. Housing is typically one of the biggest monthly expenses for renters, yet rent has historically sat outside the loyalty and rewards ecosystem.
Building a wider rental rewards network
Nuba’s longer-term proposition goes beyond card payments.
The company wants to create a network where property operators can reward behaviours such as renewals and referrals, while neighbourhood businesses can use the platform to reach and retain nearby customers.
That could give Nuba several sides of the rental market to serve if it can demonstrate that rewards improve tenant retention and generate measurable customer acquisition for participating businesses.
The £320,000 round gives the startup fresh capital to test that model through operator pilots and new commercial partnerships.
Another Nigerian founder building in the UK
For Ogbuabo, the raise also adds to the growing number of Nigerian and African founders building technology companies for the British market.
Nuba sits at the intersection of fintech and proptech, using payments as an entry point into a wider loyalty product.
Its next test will be whether the early traction around rent payments can translate into a repeatable rewards network connecting renters, property operators and local businesses.
