This archive report was first published on 17 September 2019.
Eden, a TaskRabbit for house chores in Nigeria, has been making life easier for busy homeowners in Lagos since its inception. Founded by Nadayar Enegesi, Prosper Otemuyiwa, and Silm Momoh, Eden is a room service for homes offering concierge services such as laundry, meals, house cleaning, equipment maintenance, and more.
According to Enegesi, the founders of Eden understand the difficulties faced by Nigerians in their daily lives. 'If you are Nigerian, you understand that things are just unnecessarily difficult,' he said. 'Buses are hot creaky metal death-boxes that could catch fire at any moment. You need to queue to join the queue that connects to the queue to get your voters' card, driver's license, and international passport photographs.'
Eden aims to simplify life for its users in Lagos by borrowing a leaf from the gig economy. The platform connects people with some money but little time to hire people with little money but some time to do specific, time-bound tasks.
As Enegesi explained, 'We have studied this phenomenon and used those insights to create a blueprint for our idea of sustainable African cities. We imagine a complete redesign of society and the principles that drive it. We are creating new cultures, systems, and processes to ensure that people who provide services are rewarded properly and the people who require those services receive the highest quality of service possible.'
Eden has two platforms called Garden and Lighthouse. Garden is the user's Eden app, updating the user when their home has been cleaned, the fridge restocked, and more. Lighthouse learns a user's preferences and requirements, routes them to the most appropriate Service Partners on schedule, and guides the Gardeners on how best to coordinate the delivery of services.
Since its inception in April 2019, Eden has served 58 customers, accessing a range of over 772 services through its closed beta pilot. The human-powered, tech-enabled service aims to put as many household chores on autopilot as possible using its well-trained home service providers.
