Tech firm Little to build Sh717 million office amid expansion – Business Daily
Little CEO Kamal Budhabhatti. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Technology company Little plans to build an office building at the cost of up to Sh717.4 million ($6 million) amid its expansion that has necessitated hiring more people.
This will see the company launched six years ago exit from one floor rented from a three-storey-block owned by the parent company’s Craft Silicon on Waiyaki Way in Westlands, Nairobi.
The establishment of the commercial building comes amid a hiring process and expansion by the two companies.
“We want to have a big building for Little. This place is becoming congested and we are getting another 20 to 30 people in the course of September and there is not enough space,” said Little chief executive and founder of Craft Silicon, Kamal Budhabhatti.
“We want to continue growing in terms of the number of services we have. This space is getting smaller for us. Craft is also hiring and is looking for space. Additional space and retaining a culture of a conducive place like here (Craft) will help us scale up.”
The commercial building will be constructed on Little’s owned land along Kabasiran Avenue in Lavington and is expected to start next year.
The estimated cost of construction is between Sh597.9 million ($5 million) to Sh717.4 million ($6 million) that Mr Kamal said will be financed by Little through commercial mortgage loans.
“The plan is to have Little build and have its own identity. We don’t want to always rely on Craft. They are different companies. We plan to finance it internally and the way we will do it is we may take a mortgage and pay back,” he added.
Little platform was launched in 2016 offering taxi-hailing services, developed by Craft Silicon in collaboration with Safaricom.
The firm began in the ride-hailing sector as Little Cab with a focus in the corporate sector but re-branded to Little super-app adding other services such as selling movie tickets, deliveries, and payment of utility bills like pay-TV, water and electricity cities across Kenya.
It also has services in Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Ethiopia and has recently launched in West African countries – Ghana and Senegal.
Little has also ventured into the logistics business, a space with companies such as Sendy, expected to be the next segment to drive Little’s growth.
Little is set to start offering payroll management and salary advances services whereas Craft Silicon will be providing lending technology.
The firm plans to sell up to 25 percent of its holding in three years to raise capital and scale up expansion in a move that could raise over Sh2 billion from new investors.
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