Orivanta Labs • Lead engineer • 2026 • Live
looped
A second-hand marketplace for Kigali where you inspect the item before you pay.
The problem
Buying used phones and laptops from strangers means paying up front, hoping the device isn't stolen or already sold, and meeting somewhere you're not sure is safe.
What I built
- Listings with offers, counter-offers and the meetup arranged in one conversation
- ID and selfie verification for sellers before their first listing
- Payment in the app after inspection, by MTN Mobile Money, Airtel Money or card through Flutterwave
- Suggested public meetup spots, with only the neighbourhood shared, never an address
- Cases for items not as described, decided by a Trust and Safety team, with refunds back the way you paid
Engineering decisions
One device, one live listing
Phones and laptops are listed with their IMEI or serial number, stored as a hash. If another seller already has an active listing for the same device, the new one is held for review.
Pay after you've seen it
Accepting an offer only reserves the item. Payment happens in person, after inspection, and the seller sees the confirmation before handing it over.
The platform never touches card data
Flutterwave, a licensed provider, takes the payment and pays the seller out, so looped never sees a PIN or card number.
Stack
What I learned
Most fraud in peer-to-peer sales happens around payment timing and duplicate listings, so those two rules are enforced by the system rather than left to the users.