He is exploring a new approach to the rental market, aiming to make renting more seamless by rethinking how security deposits move between tenants and landlords.

Ndaedzo Madume is a South African entrepreneur and founder and chief executive of GraceNineteen, a company providing financial solutions for the residential rental market, with a focus on security deposit payments and management.

Founded in 2019, GraceNineteen develops investment and lending products for rental housing. Its model is built on two core components: financing tenant security deposits and growing those deposits through investment products for landlords and property managers.

In practice, the platform pays the deposit to the landlord or agency on behalf of the tenant. This allows tenants to secure housing without tying up significant upfront capital. The tenant then repays the startup in affordable installments over a defined period.

Interest rates vary depending on the tenant’s risk profile and whether the deposit is invested through GraceNineteen. The advertised annual rate ranges from 14% to 27%. The company also offers the option to combine the loan with an investment product, allowing clients to earn a return on the financed deposit.

Madume holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, completed in 2014. He also holds a master’s degree in corporate finance and valuations from the University of Cape Town, completed in 2022.

He began his career at Investec Asset Management, where he interned between 2011 and 2013, before joining Rand Merchant Bank in 2014 as a research intern. He remained there until 2021, including as a market risk analyst.

Melchior Koba