Africa’s first home concierge services scheduling platform Eden Life plans to venture into Kenya’s beauty services market with its acquisition of recruitment firm Lynk.

The acquisition, brokered by Enza Capital, will give Eden Life an opportunity to leverage Lynk’s platform that has been used to connect informal workers with end users through automated job matching and standardised processes.

Eden Life was launched in Nigeria in 2019 to connect busy professionals with concierge services, on a subscription basis,  which includes chef-cooked meals, laundry services, home cleaning and, most recently, a new additional beauty & wellness service for users in Nairobi.

The subscription services are available from Google Play and the App Store, and as far as Kenya is concerned, Eden Life is hoping to emulate the success achieved in Lagos.

According to Eden Life, in the Nigerian city it has secured an 80% retention rate during the course of the last twelve months with month-on-month growth at 15%, and delivered over 150,000 services in Nigeria since launching.

The app has also been built to aggregate data based on customer preferences and offer suggestions based on prior experience. It includes additional features such as delivery time tracking, payments and billing, and user notifications that provide users with visibility and trust.

Lynk was launched in 2015 and during its time in operation claims to have facilitated over 150,000 jobs, transferring US$4.5-million to more than 2,000 workers across four main verticals - Beauty & Wellness, Cleaning & Care, Installation, Repair & Maintenance, and Furniture & Decor.

Adversely affected by COVID-19 lockdowns in the past two years, the company’s key investor connected Lynk’s founders with Eden Life and coordinated a strategic acquisition - accelerating Eden Life’s expansion into Nairobi through Lynk’s established customer base.

Akinyi Ooko-Ombaka, Country Lead at Eden Life Kenya, commented: “It’s truly exciting to continue the phenomenal legacy of the Lynk platform and be part of the evolution in recreating smart-service delivery solutions for busy Nairobians to manage their work-play lifestyle. The combination of the technology that powered Lynk to empower informal workers and the data-rich Eden Life app presents an immense opportunity to grow not just the menu of services, but also the number of people who can benefit from the platform.”

Nadayar Enegesi, Co-Founder at Eden Life and Co-founder at Andela, added, “We’re thrilled to build on the incredible growth we’ve achieved in Nigeria and to bring the Eden Life philosophy to connect quality service providers with consumers in a whole new way. Combining our platform with the knowledge and market experience of Lynk is a real dream matchup and we’re excited to work with our new team of world-class colleagues.”

Mike Mompi, General Partner at Enza Capital, “Lynk leveraged technology to pioneer an industry in East Africa that provided training, support, career growth and income for thousands of informal workers since inception, and we are enthusiastic about this development. Eden Life’s proven track record of delivering quality home services in Nigeria, while now leveraging on what Lynk has built in Kenya, reinforces the positive trend and opportunity that increasingly exists in major urban centres across Africa.”