SmartCrowd Sells Stake to Egypt’s Nawy for GCC Growth

In a major development in the Middle East’s real estate technology sector, Dubai’s property fintech company SmartCrowd has sold a majority stake to Egypt-based proptech platform Nawy. This move comes at a time when new digital ways of investing in property are becoming very popular across the Gulf region.

What is SmartCrowd?

SmartCrowd is a company that allows ordinary people to invest small amounts of money in property. Instead of buying a whole property, people can buy a small portion or fraction of it. This is called fractional ownership. The platform started in 2018 and was one of the first companies in Dubai to offer this option. This means that even if someone does not have enough money to buy a full apartment or villa, they can still invest in the real estate market and earn income.

Stay informed with the latest news. Follow DXB News Network on WhatsApp Channel 

How does fractional ownership work?

Here is an example to understand fractional ownership easily. Suppose a property costs AED 1 million. A person may not have this much money to buy it alone. Through SmartCrowd, many people can invest AED 10,000 or AED 20,000 each to collectively own the property. They will then earn rental income or profits when the property is sold, according to their share. This is similar to owning a small piece of a large cake.

SmartCrowd’s achievements so far

Since its beginning, SmartCrowd has managed property transactions worth $110 million. It has also distributed $40 million as rental income and capital gains to its investors. This shows that the platform has helped many people earn money from real estate without buying an entire property on their own.

Exiting over 50 properties

As of June this year, SmartCrowd has successfully exited more than 50 properties. This means they bought these properties, held them for a certain time, and then sold them with profits for their investors. One of SmartCrowd’s popular offerings is called Flip. Under Flip, the company buys undervalued or old properties, renovates them to make them look new and modern, and then sells them within 15 months. The average return on investment (RoI) under Flip is around 30%, which is considered very good.

The trend of tokenisation in Dubai real estate

Apart from fractional ownership, Dubai real estate is also seeing the rise of tokenisation. Tokenisation means dividing a property into digital tokens. Each token represents a share of the property. Investors can buy these tokens and thus own a part of the property. This method is supported by Dubai Land Department and allows more people to invest in real estate easily. It is similar to fractional ownership but uses digital blockchain technology.

Why did Nawy buy SmartCrowd?

Nawy is a fast-growing real estate technology company based in Cairo, Egypt. By buying SmartCrowd, Nawy wants to strengthen its presence in the Middle East and Africa. Nawy’s vision is to become a property “super-app” that offers everything related to property under one roof.

Who is Nawy?

Nawy started in Egypt and has become very popular in the real estate market there. It has over 1 million users every month and has recorded a gross merchandise value (GMV) of $3 billion. GMV means the total value of properties listed or sold through its platform.

Nawy’s recent achievements

Earlier this year, Nawy bought another startup called ROA. ROA was involved in asset management and home finishing. After buying it, Nawy relaunched it as Nawy Unlocked. This helped Nawy to offer more services to its customers such as home interior finishing, furnishing, and managing properties after buying.

Series A funding for Nawy

Recently, Nawy raised $52 million through Series A funding to grow its business. This investment round was led by UAE’s e& Capital. Nawy plans to use this money as part of a bigger $75 million fund to expand its services in areas like digital property listings, mortgage financing, brokerage services, and fractional ownership.

Statements from SmartCrowd’s CEO

Riz Ahmed, who is the CEO of SmartCrowd, said: “This is a transformative transaction for SmartCrowd, joining forces with Nawy to build the region’s premier proptech ecosystem. This partnership accelerates our transition from startup to scale-up - making us the go-to platform for real estate investment in the Middle East.”

His words clearly show that SmartCrowd is aiming to become bigger and better with the help of Nawy’s resources and network.

What does this partnership mean for the GCC?

This deal is very important for the real estate technology sector in the Gulf region. With SmartCrowd and Nawy coming together, investors in Dubai, Egypt, and other GCC countries will have access to more options and easier ways to invest in properties. People who could not buy an entire property before due to lack of money can now invest in small parts of properties and grow their wealth.

Future plans for Nawy and SmartCrowd

Nawy wants to become the top proptech company in the Middle East and Africa. By buying SmartCrowd, it will be able to offer fractional ownership services in Dubai and other Gulf countries. Together, they aim to build a strong platform where people can buy, sell, rent, renovate, manage, and invest in properties easily using digital tools.

This new partnership between SmartCrowd and Nawy is a big step towards making property investments easier for everyone. It shows how technology is changing the way people buy and invest in properties. In the future, more such deals are expected as digital property investments become common in the Middle East.