Cairo-based real estate technology platform Nawy has acquired a majority stake in SmartCrowd, a Dubai-headquartered fractional property investment startup, in a deal that gives the Egyptian scale-up a launchpad into the UAE and broader Gulf markets.
Though financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, the acquisition marks Nawy’s second strategic deal this year, following its earlier purchase of home-finishing startup ROA, now rebranded as Nawy Unlocked. With SmartCrowd, Nawy signals it is ready to deepen its MENA footprint and evolve into a one-stop real estate super-app. Before the acquisition, SmartCrowd has raised over $3.6M across 3 funding rounds.
Crossing Borders — with Capital in Hand
Backed by a high-profile investor consortium including e& Capital, Partech, March Capital, Endeavor Catalyst, and the Nclude Fund, Nawy recently closed a $75 million funding round — $52 million in equity and $23 million in debt. The company said the capital would be deployed toward product development, artificial intelligence integration, and geographic expansion into the UAE, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia.
Founded in 2019, Nawy has grown into one of Egypt’s most prominent proptech players by offering a digital-first model that blends home search, embedded financing, asset management, and now, fractional ownership. The startup claims a monthly user base of over one million and a lifetime gross merchandise value (GMV) exceeding $3 billion.
SmartCrowd, founded in 2018, allows users to invest in Dubai’s income-generating residential properties with as little as $150. The platform says it has facilitated over $110 million in property transactions and distributed $40 million in rental income and capital gains to users in 130+ countries. One of its flagship offerings, Flip, enables short-term investment in undervalued properties with a reported average 30% ROI on renovations and resale.
“This acquisition is a significant milestone in our journey,” said Mostafa El-Beltagy, Nawy’s CEO and one of five co-founders. “SmartCrowd gives us immediate access to a matured regulatory environment, diversified investor appetite, and a track record in cross-border fractional real estate investing.”
SmartCrowd’s CEO Riz Ahmed is expected to continue leading the Dubai-based operation, which will now serve as a regional hub for Nawy’s GCC activities.
A Growing Proptech Empire
Nawy’s ecosystem now includes:
- Nawy Now — a home financing product that offers “Move Now, Pay Later” options
- Nawy Shares — the company’s fractional ownership marketplace
- Nawy Unlocked — property finishing, rental management, and asset enhancement
- Nawy Partners — a B2B brokerage network
Together with SmartCrowd, the startup is positioning itself to provide a fully integrated, AI-powered real estate platform where users can buy, sell, renovate, finance, and co-invest in property across multiple markets.
In an earlier interview, El-Beltagy pointed to the underserved nature of MENA’s real estate value chain, citing fragmentation, limited data transparency, and a lack of end-to-end digital services. “This funding and our acquisitions are helping us address those exact pain points,” he said.
Riding a Real Estate Wave
Nawy’s growth has mirrored rising property demand in Egypt, where real estate remains one of the most trusted stores of value amid ongoing inflation and currency volatility. From a total transaction value of $38 million in 2020, Nawy says it processed over $1.4 billion worth of deals in 2024 alone.
With the acquisition of SmartCrowd, Nawy is banking on similar appetite in the Gulf — particularly from younger, tech-savvy investors seeking asset-backed exposure with lower entry barriers.
As the proptech race intensifies in the Middle East, Nawy’s multi-pronged approach — combining digital discovery, embedded finance, and asset lifecycle support — appears aimed at doing more than just keeping up. It’s trying to redefine the category altogether.