estaie Raises Seven-Figure Pre-Seed Round to Digitize Fragmented Stay Market

estaie Co-Founders: Nimit Solanki, Osama Shawky, and Mark Reed

UAE-based proptech startup estaie has raised a seven-figure pre-seed round to expand its artificial intelligence-powered extended-stay platform across the Middle East. The round was led by Plus VC and Orbit Ventures, with participation from Falak Angels, Value Makers Studio, and investor Vasil Zdravkov.

Founded in 2025 by Osama Shawky, Mark Reed, and Nimit Solanki, estaie is building a platform that allows users to search, compare, and book longer-term stays across hotels, serviced apartments, and holiday homes. The company targets a growing segment that falls between short-term hotel bookings and traditional long-term rentals.

Shawky said the idea emerged from inefficiencies in the extended-stay market, where customers often face fragmented options and manual negotiations, while property operators struggle with pricing and inventory management. estaie’s solution integrates these processes into a single, AI-driven system designed to streamline booking and optimize pricing.

The platform’s technology—developed in-house and supported by pending patents—focuses on improving visibility, utilization, and efficiency across the booking lifecycle. Since launch, estaie has onboarded more than 400 hotels and 1,000 holiday homes, facilitating over 3,000 room nights while recording steady monthly growth of nearly 18%.

The new funding will support regional expansion, starting with Saudi Arabia, as the company looks to scale its footprint and deepen partnerships across the hospitality and real estate sectors.

Beyond its marketplace, estaie is positioning itself as a broader infrastructure layer for extended stays. It is developing tools for property partners that include dynamic pricing, inventory optimization, and revenue management systems. The long-term goal is to create a unified platform that connects hospitality and real estate into a single ecosystem.

A key differentiator is its AI-first approach. Shawky emphasized that artificial intelligence is embedded across the platform—from pricing and demand matching to operations—enabling automation in a segment that has traditionally relied on manual processes. This also allows for new offerings such as flexible, subscription-style housing models where users can move between properties under a single plan.

The funding comes amid a more selective investment climate in the MENA region, where investors are increasingly focused on sustainable business models and revenue generation. Shawky believes this shift plays to estaie’s strengths, as it aims to build a scalable, infrastructure-led solution in a fast-growing global market projected to reach $144 billion by 2035.

Source: Inc Arabia