ma-za-kpe/rentvault

Escrow-based monthly rent platform for African renters. Built on Flutterwave. StartupTribunal Sprint #1 demo submission. # RentVault.africa > **Escrow-based monthly rent for African cities.** > Renters pay monthly. Landlords get guaranteed payment. Trust is enforced by code, not goodwill. **StartupTribunal Sprint #1 · Built by @ma-za-kpe** > **Problem source**: Upfront Rent Traps African Renters > **GitHub**: github.com StartupTribunal's AI generated three startup concepts from the problem brief. We picked one and built it: | Concept | Description | Built? | |---|---|---| | RentVerify.africa | Verified renter profiles that unlock monthly rent deals in Accra – no upfront lock-in | — | | **RentVault.africa** | **Escrow your rent monthly in Accra – secure for landlords, flexible for you** | **✅ This one** | | LeaseGuard.africa | Rent guarantee insurance for Accra landlords – enable monthly payments safely | — | --- ## The Problem (It's Bigger Than It Looks) In Accra, Lagos, Nairobi — across almost every African city — landlords demand **1–2 years of rent upfront**. Not because they're greedy; because there's no trust infrastructure. No credit bureaus. No rental history. No recourse if a tenant vanishes. The result: - A nurse earning GH₵3,000/month can't rent a GH₵800/month apartment because she doesn't have GH₵19,200 in cash - Entrepreneurs drain their working capital into landlord pockets before their business opens - An entire class of people is locked out of stable housing not by income, but by liquidity **This is a financial infrastructure problem.** And infrastructure problems get solved with software. --- ## The Solution RentVault sits between tenant and landlord as a neutral escrow layer: 1. **Renter pays monthly** into escrow via Flutterwave (card, mobile money, USSD) 2. **Renter submits photo check-in** each month proving occupancy 3. **Landlord verifies** (or funds auto-release after 7 days — no chasing required) 4. **Funds release to landlord** automatically after verification 5. **Disputes get frozen + admin-arbitrated** — neither party can …