Cairo-based proptech startup Nawy is taking steps to deepen its role in Egypt’s financial ecosystem, filing for licenses to launch a real estate investment fund and offer underwriting and promotion services — part of a wider regulatory effort to formalise and stabilise online real estate platforms in the country.
The move comes on the heels of a $75m capital injection in May — $52m in equity led by Partech Africa and $23m in debt financing from local banks — one of the largest funding rounds recorded in Egypt’s real estate tech sector to date. Nawy plans to use the capital to expand into Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, further develop its AI-powered services, and now, potentially manage its own investment vehicle.
Nawy is among three platforms — alongside SAFE, owned by Madinat Misr for Housing and Development, and Saqr, owner of Farida — that have begun formal procedures with the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) to obtain licenses to establish real estate investment funds and provide promotion and subscription coverage services.
The FRA has ramped up regulatory oversight of real estate e-platforms that facilitate property purchases or fractional ownership online, citing the need to protect stakeholders and ensure market stability. In its latest public statement, the Authority framed these developments as a response to ongoing monitoring of unlicensed activity in non-banking financial services, including on social media.
“The growing interest from these platforms to operate within a regulatory framework signals an increasing awareness of the legal landscape and the importance of customer protection,” the FRA said in a press release on Tuesday. The regulator noted that all three applicants had submitted feasibility studies as part of their licensing process.
According to the FRA, the objective is not to stifle innovation, but to guide business models toward legal compliance. Recent meetings between the Authority and platform operators focused on structuring digital real estate offerings under the real estate investment fund model, which provides a recognised framework for enabling retail and institutional participation in the sector.
By pursuing a fund license, Nawy signals a strategic shift towards institutionalisation. These funds, governed under Egypt’s non-banking financial laws, allow companies to pool investor capital into real estate portfolios — offering both diversification and regulatory clarity in a sector long dominated by fragmented, offline transactions.
The Authority’s current push is part of a broader initiative to clean up grey areas in online investment. Earlier this year, the FRA published a “negative list” of unlicensed platforms and services, and has since opened communication channels with several operators to review their compliance. This reflects a growing intent to bridge the regulatory gap between digital innovation and investor protection.
Nawy’s Expanding Ecosystem
Founded in 2019, Nawy has grown into one of Egypt’s leading digital real estate platforms, combining property listings, transaction tools, advisory services, and embedded financing. Its newer product offerings — such as Nawy Shares (a fractional ownership tool) and a “Move Now, Pay Later” scheme — position it closer to financial services than traditional brokerages.
In late 2024, Nawy acquired ROA, a home renovation and management startup, rebranding it as Nawy Unlocked. The business line enables homeowners to renovate and rent out unfinished units, offering up to 50% in renovation financing, with repayments deducted from rental income. The new service is seen as a move to extend customer engagement beyond the point of sale and generate recurring revenue.
Since launch, Nawy has facilitated over 60,000 property searches and claims to have supported $1.4bn in total transaction volume by the end of 2024, up from $38m in 2020.
“Our goal is to build a seamless end-to-end experience across real estate discovery, financing, and ownership,” said co-founder and CEO Mostafa El Beltagy. “This new licensing path would allow us to offer investment products within a properly governed structure — something we see as critical for long-term trust.”
Nawy’s regional peers — particularly in the UAE and Saudi Arabia — have experimented with real estate tokenisation and crowdfunding models. However, most have yet to achieve formal fund status under financial regulatory law. Nawy’s engagement with Egypt’s FRA could set a precedent for how proptech platforms in the MENA region evolve from digital marketplaces to full-fledged investment operators.
The challenge will lie in navigating a tightly regulated environment while preserving the speed and scalability that startups typically require. Nonetheless, the move reflects a larger trend: as real estate becomes increasingly digitised, the lines between technology platforms and financial institutions are blurring.
Should its application be approved, Nawy would join a small but growing cohort of entities authorised to operate real estate funds in Egypt — potentially giving it a first-mover advantage in a nascent segment of the country’s non-banking financial system.