Egypt’s Nawy, Africa’s Leading Proptech Company, Raises $52M in Series A Funding to Expand in the MENA Region

For many years, buying property in Egypt meant navigating a fragmented real estate landscape, relying on personal contacts, dealing with commission-focused brokers, and engaging with developers more interested in sales than customer service.

In 2019, Mostafa El Beltagy, Abdel-Azim Osman, Ahmed Rafea, Mohamed Abou Ghanima, and Aly Rafea founded Nawy to improve transparency and efficiency in the industry. Now recognized as Africa’s leading proptech platform, Nawy has successfully raised $52 million in Series A funding, led by Partech Africa, a venture capital firm dedicated to the continent. This investment furthers Nawy’s mission to integrate property listings with brokerage services.

The Series A funding round, which consists of $23 million in debt financing from top Egyptian banks, totals $75 million, making it one of the largest Series A funding rounds for any startup in Africa.

Co-founder and CEO El Beltagy entered the proptech field driven by personal experiences. After years in corporate positions across various countries, he sought to invest in Egyptian real estate, often considered a stable option amidst inflation and currency shifts.

However, the purchasing process posed challenges due to a lack of transparency and biased recommendations.

“I found it incredibly inefficient to explore the market or comprehend available properties without visiting each developer, collecting brochures, and consulting their sales teams,” said the CEO. “In this industry, incentives can often mislead you.”

These challenges motivated El Beltagy to launch Nawy, a platform aimed at assisting individuals in buying, selling, investing in, financing, and managing properties. Its innovative model, combining a property listing platform with brokerage services, sets it apart in a sector largely dependent on agents with established offline networks.

Making Real Estate Accessible

At first, Nawy faced difficulties in securing property listings. Developers were skeptical about Nawy’s ability to attract substantial traffic, while brokers viewed Nawy as a competitor.

To establish trust, Nawy offered immediate commission payments, prepaid, for brokers completing their first transaction through the platform. This change altered perceptions and encouraged organic growth, leading to over 3,000 brokerages actively engaging with Nawy Partners (its brokerage platform) for access to real-time inventory and flexible payment options.

Additionally, the Cairo-based proptech company attracts more than a million monthly visitors, with numerous developers eager for visibility. Approximately 150 developers dominate Egypt’s new build market, valued at nearly $30 billion based on 100,000 annual transactions, according to El Beltagy.

Recently, Nawy has expanded its offerings beyond listings and brokerage services, evolving into a comprehensive real estate ecosystem. This includes Nawy Shares, a fractional ownership initiative that allows users to invest in property with a minimum of $500, making real estate accessible to Egypt’s middle-income segment, which had previously been overlooked.

Moreover, Nawy has introduced a mortgage product, “Move Now Pay Later,” aimed at assisting users in making purchases through installment plans in a market where banks rarely provide real estate loans.

“The real estate landscape is asymmetrical, as most buyers prefer new constructions over resale properties. We believe this product will drive change,” commented El Beltagy. “It’s an innovative mortgage since traditional options are almost non-existent here.” He emphasized that Nawy’s $23 million debt facility supports this initiative.

Immune to Economic Volatility?

These initiatives have diversified Nawy’s revenue streams, which the company claims have increased over 50 times in dollar value over the past four years, despite the Egyptian pound’s 69% depreciation.

El Beltagy attributes much of this growth to the market’s demand for real estate as a hedge against inflation and currency devaluation. While the currency crisis affected local demand, increased remittances from expatriates helped mitigate the downturn.

By the end of 2024, Nawy anticipates over $1.4 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV), a remarkable increase from $38 million in 2020.

With the recent funding, Nawy aims to expand its reach beyond Egypt into North Africa and the Middle East, identified as emerging global real estate markets. The company is particularly focused on Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE for its upcoming initiatives (for instance, in the UAE, platforms like Huspy and Property Finder are gaining traction).

El Beltagy also mentioned plans to acquire smaller firms as part of its growth strategy. Recently, it acquired the property management startup ROA and rebranded it as “Nawy Unlocked,” thereby enhancing its service offerings.

The Series A funding round, conducted in two phases, will facilitate these initiatives, including advancing product development and integrating AI across Nawy’s operations, as noted by El Beltagy.

Other notable investors in this round include the Nclude Fund from Development Partners International, e& Capital, Endeavor Catalyst, HOF Capital, March Capital Investments, Outliers, Plug and Play, Shorooq Partners, VentureSouq, and Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures.

“We’re excited to support Nawy as they create a modern, tech-driven real estate experience,” stated Tidjane Deme, general partner at Partech. “Their team possesses deep market insights, ambitious regional growth plans, and excellent execution, establishing them as the leading proptech firm in Africa and the Middle East.”