Dubai

Seed

Series A

Series B

Series C

Uncover Michael Lahyani's funding activity and portfolio companies. Find tailored investor profiles on Lucidity Insights.

Michael Lahyani

Michael Lahyani is the Founder and CEO of Property Finder, the leading real estate platform in the Middle East. He identified a gap in Dubai’s property advertising market in 2005 and launched Property Finder in 2007, growing it into a regional powerhouse operating in six countries.
Michael has been angel investing since 2019, with a focus on high-growth startups, and where he can add strategic value - like proptech, adtech, and B2B/B2C marketplaces.

London

Fresha

Beauty

Health Care

Marketplace

SaaS

Wellness

Fresha is the leading marketplace platform for beauty & wellness trusted by millions of consumers and businesses worldwide. Fresha allows consumers to discover, book and pay for beauty and wellness appointments with local businesses via its marketplace, while beauty and wellness businesses and professionals use an all-in-one platform to managetheir entire operations with its intuitive free business software and financial technology solutions.

Post-IPO Equity

Swvl

Internet

Information Technology

Technology

Swvl is a tech-enabled mobility platform that provides safe, reliable, and convenient mass transit solutions in 115 cities worldwide, including Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.

Bouskoura

Chari

E-Commerce

Fintech

Retail Technology

Retail

Mobile Apps

Apps

A one stop shop for traditional proximity stores allowing them to order any consumer goods they sell and get delivered for free while benefiting from financial services

Aptuno

Proptech

Property Management

Real Estate

Aptuno's all-in-one platform enables searching, listing, signing, and management of properties.

Cairo-based transportation startup Swvl has raised $42 million in a Series B-2 funding round, marking the largest-ever funding round for an Egyptian startup. The round was co-led by Swedish VC Vostok Ventures and Dubai-based BECO Capital, with participation from investors including China’s MSA, US-based Endeavor Catalyst, and others. Swvl plans to expand to two to three more African cities by the end of the year.

Cairo-based Swvl raises $42 million in the largest-ever funding round for an Egyptian startup

Swvl, an Egyptian app for booking buses, has raised $42 million in a Series B funding round to expand into other parts of Africa, including Nigeria. The funding was secured from venture-capital firms such as Sweden’s Vostok, Dubai-based BECO Capital, China’s MSA, and Endeavor Catalyst from New York. The company plans to enter at least two or three more African cities by the end of the year, with Lagos, Nigeria, being a likely next market.

Swvl raises $42 million to expand to Africa

Swvl, a Cairo-based transportation startup, raised $42 million in a Series B funding round at a valuation of $156.86 million. Investors include BECO Capital, Endeavor Catalyst, MSA, Vostok New Ventures, Autotech, Arzan VC, Blustone, OTF Jasoor Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani, and Sawari Ventures. The startup plans to expand to two or three more African cities by the end of the year, with Lagos as a likely next market.

Egypt’s Swvl raises $42-million on a reported $156m valuation [Updated]

Cairo-based ride-hailing company SWVL raised $42 million in a Series B funding round, co-led by Vostock New Ventures and BECO Capital, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst. This marks the largest-ever funding round for an Egyptian company. The funds will be used to expand SWVL's operations to two to three more cities, including Lagos, and to enhance their technology and customer service. The company also pledged EGP 1 million for the education of their top drivers' children.

SWVL Raises $42 Million in Largest Ever Funding Round for an Egyptian Company, with Participation from Endeavor Catalyst

Swvl, an Egyptian mass transit startup, raised $42 million in a Series B funding round from investors including Vostok, BECO Capital, MSA, and Endeavor Catalyst. The funds will be used to expand into Lagos, Nigeria, with plans to begin by mid-July. Swvl aims to enter at least two or three more African cities by the end of the year.

Egypt's Swvl Does It Again, Raises $42 Million To Expand To Nigeria

Today, a new activity takes us to Morocco, where YC-backed company Chari just raised a $5 million seed round at a valuation of $70million.

Founded by Sophia Alj and Ismael Belkhayat last year, Chari took part in the recent Y Combinator’s Summer batch that concluded two months ago.

The U.S seed-stage accelerator invested in this seed round, along with Plug and Play, Village Capital/MetLife Foundation, Orange Ventures, Airbnb executives, SPE Capital, Pincus Capital Management, The Chandaria family, Michael Lahyani and the management company of an American Ivy League university.

Rocket Internet, Global Founders Capital and P1 Ventures co-led the round, which is the largest of its kind in Morocco at the moment.

Chari, a Moroccan startup digitizing mom and pop stores, raises $5M at $70M valuation

Founded in 2020 by husband and wife team Ismael and Sophia Belkhayat, Chari allows traditional proximity store owners in Morocco to order products and have them delivered. The platform has onboarded over 20,000 food businesses in Morocco, and expanded into Tunisia and Ivory Coast.

A Y Combinator alumnus, and very well-capitalised, Chari has now raised a US$12 million Series A round – the largest such round ever raised in Morocco. The round was led by SPE Capital and Orange Ventures, with participation from Verod-Kepple, Global Founders Capital, Plug and Play, Endeavor Catalyst, Pincus Capital, Al Khwarizmi Ventures, UM6P Ventures, Axian Group, Uncovered fund, AfriMobility, P1 Ventures, Reflect Ventures, Dragon Capital, MyAsia VC, Harambean Prosperity Fund, and H&S Invest holding.

Moroccan B2B e-commerce startup Chari closes $12m Series A round

Casablanca, Morocco: Chari, the YC-backed startup founded in 2020 by husband-and-wife duo Ismael Belkhayat (ex-BCG) and Sophia Alj (ex-McKinsey), has closed a $12M Series A round—the largest Series A ever raised in Morocco. The round was led by SPE Capital and Orange Ventures, with participation from Verod-Kepple, Global Founders Capital, Plug and Play, Endeavor Catalyst, Pincus Capital, Al Khwarizmi Ventures, UM6P Ventures, Axian Group, Uncovered fund, AfriMobility, P1 Ventures, Reflect Ventures, Dragon Capital, MyAsia VC, Harambean prosperity fund and H&S Invest holding.

In addition, several high-profile business angels joined the round, including Michael Lahyani (Founder of Property Finder) and Karim Beguir (Founder of InstaDeep).

Chari secures $12 million Series A and payment licence from Bank Al-Maghrib

Beauty and wellness businesses have come roaring back to life with the decline of COVID-19 restrictions, and a startup that’s built a platform that caters to the many needs of small enterprises in the industry today is announcing a big round of funding to grow with them.

Fresha — a multipurpose commerce tool for independent wellness and beauty businesses such as hair, nail and skin salons, yoga instructors and more, based first and foremost around a completely free subscription platform for those businesses to schedule bookings from customers — has picked up $100 million.

Fresha plans to use the funds to expand the list of countries where it operates, to grow the categories of companies that use its services (mental health practitioners is one example; fitness is another) and to build more services complementing what it already provides, helping customers do their work by providing them with more insights and data about what they do already. It will also be making acquisitions to expand its customer base.

General Atlantic is leading this Series C, with Huda Kattan, Michael Zeisser of FMZ Ventures and Jonathan Green of Lugard Road Capital also participating, along with past investors Partech, Target Global and FJ Labs.

Fresha has raised $132 million to date, and it’s not disclosing its valuation. But as a point of reference, when it closed its Series B (as Shedul; the company rebranded in February 2020), it was valued at $105 million.

Chances are that figure is significantly higher now.

Fresha raises $100M for its beauty and wellness booking platform and marketplace

Beauty and wellness platform Fresha has raised over $52 million in an extension of its recent Series C funding round, bringing its valuation to over $640 million. The investment was led by Michael Lahyani and BECO Capital, with participation from existing investors General Atlantic, Partech, Target Global, and FMZ Ventures.

Michael Lahyani

Funding Deals, by Region

Current stage of startup invested in

No. of Startup Invested In

Average Cheque Size

Total No. of Investments Globally, by Year

Portfolio Companies
or Investments

Michael Lahyani

Funding Deals, by Region

Current stage of startup invested in

No. of Startup Invested In

Average Cheque Size

Total No. of Investments Globally, by Year

Portfolio Companies or Investments

Portfolio Companies
or Investments