RENTLY

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  Conversation page (massages)

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  Tenant Registration form

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  Login form

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  Profile

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  Home Page

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  Offices rent page

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  Landloard Registration form

Inspiration

Our inspiration stems from the "Trust Crisis" in Rwanda’s rapidly urbanizing housing market. In a city like Kigali, where 66% of households are tenants, finding a home is currently a gamble. We witnessed international students and local workers paying multiple 5,000 RWF visit fees" to unregulated brokers for "ghost listings" that didn't exist or photos that were ten years old. As a team of data scientists and entrepreneurs, we realized that the problem wasn't a lack of houses—it was a lack of verified truth. We were inspired to build a platform that aligns with Rwanda’s Vision 2050 by turning the disorganized, informal rental market into a transparent, high-tech ecosystem.

What it does

Prorent is a mobile-native "Trust Infrastructure" that connects landlords and seekers directly, removing the middleman bottleneck. • Physical Verification: No listing goes live until a "Field Agent" physically visits the house and confirms the owner's identity. • Direct Connection: For a flat, transparent fee of 5,000 RWF, seekers "unlock" direct contact with the verified owner. • Visual Intelligence: Integrated Google Maps Satellite & POI data allows users to see nearby markets, schools, and offices virtually, eliminating the need for unnecessary cross-city travel. • AI Voice-Bridge: Real-time Kinyarwanda-to-English/French translation removes language barriers for international students and investors.

How we built it

We built the project with a Mobile-First philosophy to leverage GPS and real-time data. • Frontend: Developed with Flutter for a high-performance, cross-platform experience (iOS/Android). • Backend: Powered by Python (FastAPI) to handle our AI translation logic and heavy geospatial data. • Geospatial Engine: We used the Google Maps Platform API to calculate "Neighborhood Pulse" scores and map proximity to essential services. • Trust Logic: We implemented an "Agent-Admin-User" workflow where a listing status only changes from PENDING to ACTIVE once physical GPS coordinates from our agent app match the database location.

Challenges we ran into

The primary challenge was Verification Latency—the time it takes for a human agent to reach a house. We solved this by designing a Decentralized Gig-Economy model, where the nearest neighborhood agent is automatically notified. Technically, building a reliable AI Voice-Bridge that handles local accents in Kinyarwanda was difficult. We spent significant time fine-tuning our Natural Language Processing (NLP) models to ensure that a landlord in Nyamirambo and a student from Chad could understand each other perfectly without a human translator.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

• Total Transparency: We successfully removed the "Gatekeeper" model. Our "Direct-Connect" feature is a first in the Rwandan market. • Alignment with NST2: We are proud to have built a project that directly supports the Second National Strategy for Transformation (NST2) targets of reaching 39.2% urbanization by 2029. • Job Creation: We’ve designed a system that doesn't replace traditional brokers but professionalizes them into "Certified Field Agents," giving them a tech-enabled career path.

What we learned

We learned that Data is the cure for Friction. By analyzing the rental majority in Kigali, we realized that the market doesn't need "more photos"—it needs Verified Identities. We also learned the math of Volume vs. Margin. Instead of taking a huge commission from a few people, our model relies on the "Power of the People": $$\text{Projected Reach} = 10,000 \text{ Seekers} \times 5,000 \text{ RWF} = 50,000,000 \text{ RWF Monthly}$$ This taught us that affordability is the key to massive scalability.

What's next for RENTLY

Our roadmap is clear: conquer the local market, then scale the continent.

1. The Kigali Pilot: Launching in the Gasabo district to onboard and train 50 more neighborhood agents.
2. National Expansion: Moving beyond Kigali into secondary cities like Musanze and Rubavu to support the government's goal of $150,000$ new units annually.
3. The African Blueprint: Once the model is perfected in Rwanda, we will scale across Africa, targeting high-growth cities where trust and transparency in real estate remain a primary barrier.

Built With

• emailjs
• expo.io
• jest
• postgresql
• react
• react-native
• supabase
• tailwind
• typescript
• zustand