If current trends in urbanization and income growth persist, the affordable housing gap would grow from 330 million households to 440 million by 2025, leaving at least 1.6 billion people living in substandard housing. There is no denying we are experiencing an expanding global housing crisis exacerbated by mass migrations due to climate change and conflict on top of exploding local populations in the emerging markets. The scarcity of truly affordable housing created a global housing crisis that cannot be solved by conventional private sector development methodologies.
iBUILD came into existence in 2016, seeing that the affordable housing gap would not be solved by mass implementation or private developments, but rather empowering the work force that is already in existence. Giving those in need of work and shelter an opportunity to change the landscape of affordable housing through the power of its own citizens. iBUILD recognizes the typical unseen, informal community and gives them the tool to operate efficiently

iBUILD identified that there are millions of capable construction industry professionals around the world. Unfortunately, there is little to no institutional transparency nor a trusted medium in which to securely and reliably transact for construction related services. Since the eco-system in not formalized, it is disconnected and inefficient. The majority of construction workers and customers transact in cash, with little recourse and high risk of inferior quality or incomplete projects.
iBUILD is a C2C market disruption tool that connects people in need of shelter with masses of construction-related people looking for work and facilitates open access to housing support services that guide individuals through the housing (re)construction process. iBUILD creates open and fair access to meaningful work through a localized construction marketplace coupled with a transparent ecosystem of support that improves consumer access to mortgages and micro finance, construction plans and a dynamic marketplace of contractors, workers and suppliers to all; iBUILD provides a mobile wallet solution so that every individual has the power to transact and immediately improve the security and adequacy of their own shelter according to individual need.
iBUILD provides workers with an electronic record of hours worked, mobile payments for their work and employer and customer rating. iBUILD serve as an electronic CV that allows workers to improve their pay over time, find consistent work, advance their careers and access credit for SME loans and their own housing improvements. As millions of new loan applicants step forward, this exposure to finance will help to ensure that more people can afford decent and quality housing.
Further, as iBUILD expands so does the before unknown resource data. iBUILD will become a resource library for governmental entities, NGOs, finance institutions, etc. The platform will be able to obtain data necessary demographic, resource, and housing data such as: demand for specific materials, average wage, number of houses being built, number of jobs being created, geographic building locations, topographic and environmental history for building, etc

iBUILD's partner institutions include Flutterwave, Saint-Gobain, Habitat for Humanity, IBM, MAhindra, International Finance Corporation, MasterCard Labs, Oracle, The World Bank, YoManE, Sofala Capital, African Union for Housing Finance, Centre for Affordable Housing Finance Africa, local government bodies and institutions. Through these partnerships iBUILD has been able to identify user groups and market trends within each country to best understand out target beneficiary groups: Contractor, Worker, and Homeowner. iBUILD is a mobile platform that is download-able for users with smart phones. For the worker group specifically, it is available to dial in through USSD coding to apply for jobs.

The first pilot and successful launch started in Kenya, where there is one of the highest national smart phone penetration rates and desperate need -like so many other countries in the world- of new, innovative and scalable affordable housing solutions. A full scale piloting stage was executed for one year with direct consultation of stakeholders, preparing for market demands and user input. The platform successfully has launched in January of 2019 and is operating at enthusiastic rates. The app is increase visibility to the informal sector and validating that market place, creating a credible and reliable economy that did not exist before. iBUILD will enter the Nigerian, Indonesian, Indian, and South African markets this year as well

How quickly all these initial user groups grew demonstrating equal demand- as we continued we saw that customers were growing at the strongest pace. Taking a look at the sign ups on the platform and realizing this user group grew the fastest- the evidence of that demonstrated the demand and need of these families/customers to have a trusted platform where they could transact. 70% of housing in the developing world is self built, but nothing like this existed before. There were a lot of fake contractors in the market place and they quickly were being exposed through the app. Now workers that are living in the slums are reporting these guys that have been taking advantage of them this whole time...ex. contractor asking for pay just to have access to jobs.
Individual workers/ smaller contractors will be rated and be able to demonstrate skills, giving them the opportunity to compete for jobs on a level playing field opposed to standing on random corners waiting to be picked without any view of their actual credentials- workers will often spend there last bit of money to travel to locations hoping to find work, now they can search directly from their phones.
Record of all work history and payments will now be able to access to micro loans because they will have a history of their payments and work history. the ability to demonstrate consistent work history provided by iBUILD when before they were being paid in cash. Now small business owners can buy tools for business or qualify for construction loans bringing them into equal competition in the market.
iBUILD impacts local communities by "leveling the playing field"- people who live in slums have incomes, iBUILD will help them to take what little money they have to make INCREMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS to their homes so that overtime they will increase the sustainability and safety of their shelter.

Founders contributed 1.5MM in funding, IBM and Mastercard Lab provided probono services, Habitat for Humanity supported first pilot period in Kenya, four co founders are extremely dedicated and each bring a unique skillset that created a dynamic company from the start.
Complex programming, low familiarity with construction sector in new territory created constraints in the beginning- co -founders had construction experience and worked very closely with local developers to overcome unknowns .
First fintech app for a marketplace app that included the entire value chain for housing construction- difficult for people to fathom because nothing to compare it to. Long lead time in pilot testing to get enough feedback to understand the pain points and value proposition for all iBUILD platform stakeholders.
iBUILD is the first technology of its kind to create a tool to facilitate and manage the functions of ALL actors in the construction sector. The technology implemented with an embedded mobile wallet, geo tagging, and credibility verification have all introduced a level of accountability that the informal construction process did not have before.

The technology itself lends to progressive accountability: rating system gives workers aspiration- direct correlation to doing good work, and getting more work. iBUILD allows for the market to identify its’s needs- tying progress to payments. Creating a transparent platform that illuminates the market place. iBUILD is dedicated to providing new ways of constructing affordable housing around the world- by implementing material modules, access to sustainable, affordable practices will be available for all. This also becomes an excellent tool for fund disbursements direct to victims- giving total transparency into programs for rebuilding individual homes using iBUILD to organize the construction marketplace and reconstruct the value chain post conflict or post natural disaster.C2C model rebuilds quickest and iBUILD empowers survivors to begin rebuilding right away.
iBUILD creates transparency and accountability by embedding an e-wallet for all transactions. taking the cash economy, where homeonwers are often fooled by fake contractors and workers are never paid after work is completed- onto a brand new platform whereby payments are made based on verifiable milestones, creating enormous efficiency. Customers can pay the supplier directly through the wallet when materials are ordered and know that every penny they have saved is going directly into their project. Architects are able to find new customers and affordably sell plans, Lenders are able to loan to customers with less risk and contractors are able to track worker's time and pay directly through the app. Large institutions such as World Bank, governments and large developers are able to disburse funding through the app and trace every (dollar) that goes into a project. They will have data and analytics to be able to understand the arketplace and better support the ecosystem. Further, overlays of flood plans and historical storm maps will guide investors and builders in the best locale for affordable housing investment based on climate change and 20 year outlook.
The platform was created to be widely adopted. The issues of affordable housing, financial inclusion, and employment are widespread globally, so the result must be adaptable to each new location. We have found that localities are excited about this technology because of its ability to easily migrate into the spaces of the construction market where the management is needed. Not only is there expansion geographically, but iBUILD is constantly evolving to include new modules for other construction related professions and methodologies needed.

iBUILD is a mobile platform for home improvement, formalization and efficiency, improved livelihoods, and more. Through the app, citizens are able to empower themselves in ways that were not typically granted to them before. All users can rise up and take their housing plight into their own hands. Their are millions of capable construction industry professionals around the world and joining iBUILD is the best most secure way to transact. No more losing money by transporting cash to and from job sites. No more doing work without getting paid. Customers can now search and find qualified and certified contractors- verified, rated- with a full history of their iBUILD construction projects. Trust is the main factor that must be ensured in any transaction process and iBUILD is stimulating the ability to do that.
Transparency of funding disbursements through the virtual wallet is a key feature for our banking and financial lending partners on the platform. Diversion of funds is a major detractor of investment in the mortgage and housing construction sector. iBUILD provides the data analytics and project reporting necessary for mitigating risk and analyzing the marketplace.
Natural Disaster and Housing Reconstruction. The disbursement of disaster recovery funds to victims struggling to rebuild after natural disaster occurrences and geopolitical conflicts is also burdened by diversion of appropriated capital, a massive hurdle in reconstruction efforts. iBUILD uniquely solves these problems for primary players in the micro-finance construction loan and disaster recovery space.

company website: ibuild.global
Informational videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SI7t60uv2E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIKmu0ZTxhI


articles:
Republic of Kenya, Ministry of Information, Communications, and Technology: http://www.ict.go.ke/shs-2-3-trillion-housing-agenda-boosted-by-new-app/

Habitat for Humanity: https://www.habitat.org/emea/stories/ibuild-enters-kenyan-housing-market

Financial Fortune Magazine Interview: https://www.financialfortunemedia.com/adoption-of-ibuilds-app-gathers-steam/