Confidential (property members club) · Fintech / Real estate
A members club where Ugandans co-own income-producing apartments from 1,000,000 UGX. Every shilling moves by exact rules, and a person approves each movement.
Category
Marketplace
Year
2025-2026
Industry
Fintech / Real estate
Optimization
Checked before trusted
How it is optimized
Checked before trusted
Exact rules move the money, and a person approves every movement.
Nothing here is estimated. Ownership percentages are derived from actual amounts on every read, every split rounds down to the whole shilling, and the wallet invariant is enforced rather than assumed. Each deposit, investment, rent credit and withdrawal passes an admin before it settles, and platform rules are settings, so changing them needs no release.
What keeps it lean
- 01Deterministic ledger rules, no estimates
- 02Human approval on every money movement
- 03Rules changed as settings, not releases
Output is grounded, traceable or approved by a person where the risk requires it.
The challenge
Most people in East Africa will never own an apartment, not for lack of savings, but because property sells in one indivisible lump. Capital is locked up for years, rental income means becoming a landlord, and nobody outside the owner can see what a building actually earns. What needed to change was the unit of ownership: small enough for an ordinary saver, exact enough to be trusted with other people’s money.
The work
We designed and built the members club end to end: a vetted application and onboarding funnel, a wallet every shilling passes through, three ways to own a share of an apartment, monthly rent distribution split by exact stake, and an internal resale market for exits. Every money movement routes through a real admin, and the platform’s fees and minimums are settings the team changes without a release.
Inside the product
More than one screen.
The product name and data have been changed at the client's request; these screens recreate Brickfold as it was built.
Apartment marketplace
Units open for ownership with funding progress, yield and the minimum stake.
Vault
Every deposit, investment, rent credit and withdrawal in one exact ledger.
Approval desk
Admins approve every money movement and change platform rules without a release.
On the phone
Home
Apartment marketplace
Vault
Approval desk
How it is built
Architecture
Next.js and React with TanStack and typed server actions, over Supabase and PostgreSQL with Zod at the boundaries. Roughly 72,600 lines across 416 files and 211 reusable components. Wallet balances are enforced to always equal deposits minus investments minus withdrawals, and UGX is handled as whole shillings throughout, never floats.
Key features
Challenges & solutions
Challenge
Ownership had to stay exact across primary purchases, monthly rent splits and secondary trades, with no member ever short-changed by rounding.
Solution
Percentages are derived from actual amounts on every read rather than stored, and every split rounds down to the whole shilling so the platform never rounds in its own favour.
Challenge
A wallet holding real money can never drift, and no member could be allowed to see or reach an admin screen.
Solution
The ledger invariant, where balance equals deposits minus investments minus withdrawals, is enforced rather than assumed. The member and admin worlds are strictly separated in the product.
Challenge
Membership fees, minimums and resale fees needed to change with the business, not with the release cycle.
Solution
Every rule became an operational setting behind an admin panel, so the team adjusts the platform economics instantly.
The impact
What became easier, better or more effective.
Brickfold launched as a working members club, not a waitlist. A member can apply, fund a wallet, buy into an apartment from 1,000,000 UGX, collect their share of the rent and sell their stake to another member when they want out. For the team, every balance reconciles to the ledger and every decision has a name on it, which is what makes it possible to hold other people’s money with a clear conscience.
The learning
Before any of it was built, each ledger rule was explained in plain language and agreed with the founder: why percentages are derived rather than stored, why every split rounds down, why a person approves each movement. The team runs the platform knowing why it behaves the way it does, not just how.
“The team asked harder questions about the money than our own accountant, and explained every decision in plain language before building it. It felt like having a technical co-founder, not a vendor.”
1M UGX
minimum stake to co-own an apartment
Property that only ever sold as one indivisible lump now opens at a price an ordinary saver can reach.
3
ownership products on one ledger
Fractional, Live and Prime share the same wallet, rent distribution and secondary market, so a member learns one system, not three.
100%
of money movements approved by a person
Every deposit, investment, rent credit and withdrawal passes the admin desk before it settles. Nothing moves because software decided it should.
Stack
Frontend
- Next.js
- React
- TypeScript
- TanStack
Styling
- TailwindCSS
- ShadCN
Backend
- Supabase
- PostgreSQL
- Zod
Messaging & Documents
- Resend
- pdf-lib
Analytics
- PostHog
Optimization
Checked before trusted
Output is grounded, traceable or approved by a person where the risk requires it.
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